Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories Read online

  “I've got it,” Roake says, crouching down and starting to gather them up for her.

  “I'm not usually so clumsy,” she replies, “it's just...” She glances at the window again. “I can't imagine why that scream is still going on. It'll stop any second now, I'm sure of it. It must be more than ten minutes now. No-one can scream for that long, can they?”

  “Maybe,” Roake mutters, getting to his feet and placing the box on the counter before taking a set of keys from the pile. “Room one. Is that okay?”

  “That's fine,” she tells him. “It's our best room, actually. It's slightly larger than the others and -” She pauses for a moment, feeling as if the scream is digging into her head. “It's not got an en suite, none of our rooms do, but it's the closest to the bathroom. I'd get someone to help you with your bag, but... Well, it's really only me and my daughter, so...”

  “You've been more than helpful already,” he replies, looking over at the door in the corner. “So... Is room one that way?”

  Hurrying around the counter, she heads to the door and pulls it open for him. “It's through here and on the left,” she explains, her voice trembling more than ever. “You can't miss it.”

  Once the new arrival has gone to find his room, Mrs. Chinnery makes her way back to the counter and starts putting everything straight. She keeps telling herself that the scream will stop at any moment, but finally she looks at the window and just stares for a few seconds, waiting for the horrific sound to end.

  “Dear God,” she whispers finally, “what's happening in our beautiful little town?”

  Chapter Five

  Reaching the corner of the movie theater, Susan Etterman turns and looks around for a moment. The scream seems to be bouncing from one building to the next, and no matter how hard she tries she can't quite manage to get a fix on it or work out where it's coming from. Still, she feels she's a little closer, so she heads down the side of the theater until she reaches the next street, at which point she stops again.

  Turning, she feels as if the scream has shifted, as if suddenly it's behind her again.

  “You found anythin'?” Davey Hunter shouts as he runs along the next street, stopping when he reaches her.

  “It's everywhere and nowhere,” she replies, turning again as she starts to feel increasingly desperate. “Oh God, why won't it stop?”

  “At least while it's still goin', we can track it down,” he points out. “It just seems to keep movin' all the damn time! Shiftin', like. You hear it comin' from one place, you run over and by the time you get there, it's comin' from where you just were.”

  “It must be something to do with the way the town's laid out,” she continues. “Obviously somehow it bounces the sound around from building to building until we can't work out where it's coming from.”

  “Well it has to be comin' from somewhere,” he replies, taking off toward the rear of the courthouse. “I'm gonna check down here, it sounds a little louder this way.”

  “No,” she calls after him, “it's louder over here!”

  Too late. He's already well on his way.

  “Who is it?” Susan asks, wincing as she hears an extra twist of agony starting to fill the scream. “Which poor soul is making such a horrible sound?”

  Chapter Six

  Opening his suitcase on the bed, Thomas Roake takes out the few items he's brought with him to Pine Ridge. Aside from a clean set of clothes, there's only a bible, a battered wooden crucifix and a set of beads, plus a few travel documents and guidebooks. Beneath those guidebooks, however, there's a small notebook, tattered and dog-eared, with two words handwritten in large black letters on the cover: The Scream.

  Chapter Seven

  “Okay,” Matt Kielty says, as he and a couple of others reach the center of the town square. “Just stay still and quiet for a moment and listen. We should be able to work out where it's coming from if we're just logical about the whole thing.”

  “Do you really think this is a time for logic?” Joe asks.

  “Just listen,” Matt hisses. “Please! It's better than running around all the time.”

  As they stand quietly, they listen to the scream as it continues all around them. Sometimes it seems as if the scream is about to crack and break into sobs, whereas other times it sounds more defiant, almost as if the person doing the screaming is trying to get some words out, maybe to beg for help. As the seconds tick past, however, Matt and the others begin to look at each other, as if they're all hoping that someone else will come up with an idea.

  “I can't listen to this,” Amanda Cluny says finally, with tears in her eyes. “Whatever's happening, it's just... It's horrible!”

  “Just stay quiet a moment longer,” Matt tells her. “We can narrow it down. We just have to be logical.”

  Shaking her head, Amanda waits a few more seconds, before reaching into her bag and taking out some paper tissues. Dabbing at her eyes, she's clearly struggling to stay calm, and finally she reaches up and put her fingers in her ears.

  “Oh God, how can it be taking them so long to find her? Why isn't anybody doing anything?”

  “We don't even know who's in trouble yet,” Matt points out, before turning to Robert Leary. “There's only a few hundred people in this whole town. We need to get everyone together so we can work out who's missing.”

  “Judy,” Amanda says suddenly, as a sense of panic fills her features. “Oh my God, I have to find Judy! I haven't seen her since last night!” Turning, she begins to run across the town square, before spotting her daughter in the distance and racing over to throw her arms around her in a state of sheer relief. Judy, a little shocked, reciprocates the hug, while looking up at the tops of the nearby buildings, as if she half expects to see the victim up there.

  “It just keeps going on and on,” Robert says after a moment, with a hint of wonder in his voice, as he turns to Matt. “What the hell can be happening to someone, that they make such an awful noise for so long?”

  “This town isn't big enough for her not to be found soon,” Matt replies, turning to him. “Whoever she is, she has to be somewhere close! We just need to stay calm and use logical intuition, and we'll narrow down the possibilities until we find her. Let's not get irrational about all this.”

  Chapter Eight

  In room one of the town's only hotel, Father Thomas Roake kneels at the foot of the bed, locked in prayer as the scream continues outside.

  He doesn't react at all as the door clicks open, or as the face of little Alice Chinnery peers in at him.

  Chapter Nine

  “Hey!” Don Ridley shouts, short of breath as he stops at the end of the street that runs behind the pharmacy. He waves and then snaps his fingers. “You! Get over here!”

  Hurrying toward him, Howard Cooper stops and puts a hand on the older man's back.

  “You okay?” he asks. “You seem -”

  “I'm fine!” Don snaps, pushing his hand away. “Don't go worryin' about me, I'm not the one who's in trouble. Hasn't anyone found the source of that goddamn scream yet?”

  Looking back along the street, Howard listens for a moment as the scream continues to ring out across the entire town. “Everyone's still looking,” he says, turning back to Don. “I swear to God, pretty much everyone's out now trying to find what's going on but -”

  “Then why haven't they got anywhere?” Don hisses, stepping past him and looking around the next corner. “It must be almost twenty minutes now since it started, what the hell is going on in this town? How hard is it to listen out for where a sound is comin' from, and then go to it?” He waits for an answer, before turning to Howard. “Well? What's the goddamn problem here?”

  “It just seems like it's echoing all over the place.”

  “This isn't exactly a big town, Howard!”

  “I think we're gonna have to start searching the buildings.”

  “It's not comin' from inside anywhere,” Don replies. “It's comin' from outside. I've got that figured out now.”<
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  “Really? I was sure -”

  “Don't be a dumb-ass,” Don adds. “Come on, work with me here.”

  “I'm pretty sure we've looked everywhere outside,” Howard tells him. “The buildings are about the only place left to try. Anyway, if it's somewhere with a window open, or something like that -”

  “Or the roof,” Don suggests suddenly, turning and looking up at the tops of the nearby buildings. “Maybe it's someone up on a roof. Doesn't sound like that, exactly, but sometimes these things, you know, they can be deceptive. If someone wanted to hide, it stands to reason they might go up on a roof where no-one can see 'em properly.”

  “I'll start getting some guys together,” Howard tells him. “We'll go building to building, methodical like, until we find whoever's in trouble.”

  “Get on with it!” Don shouts, gesturing for him to head to the town square. “This sound is starting to drive me out of my goddamn mind!” When Howard doesn't immediately move, Don shuffles over to him and shoves him forward. “Move, man!”

  Chapter Ten

  As soon as Alice takes a half-step forward, the floorboard creaks beneath her feet. She holds her breath, but the priest's eyes have already opened and he's looking right at her. They stare at one another for a moment, as the scream continues outside.

  “Don't be scared,” Roake says finally, getting to his feet and closing his bible. “Do you live here?”

  Alice pauses for a moment, before nodding. She knows her mother would be mad at her for disturbing a guest, but something about Mr. Roake feels strangely calm, especially with the scream still filling the air.

  “Is the noise upsetting you?” he asks.

  She pauses again, and then she nods.

  “I understand,” he continues with a weary sigh. “I imagine Pine Ridge is usually a very peaceful town.”

  “Mommy says it'll stop soon,” Alice tells him cautiously. “I heard Mrs. Eleny saying it'll stop soon too, and Mr. Barridge also. Everyone keeps telling everyone else that it's going to stop any minute now.” She stares at him for a moment. “Aren't you going to say it'll stop soon?”

  He hesitates for a moment, before looking down at his notebook.

  “No-one's been to stay in the hotel for ages,” Alice continues. “I can't even remember the last time someone was here.”

  “Pine Ridge seems like a nice town,” he replies, with a hint of sadness in his voice. “A decent place.”

  “Is that why you're here?”

  He pauses, before shaking his head. “No, that's not why I'm here.”

  “There isn't really much to do in Pine Ridge,” Alice continues. “We don't have anything famous and we're not on the road to anywhere big, so I think that's why people don't come much.” She stares at him for a few seconds as a frown crosses her features. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course.”

  She hesitates, as if she's scared of the answer. “Do you think the screaming will stop soon?”

  “I...” He takes a deep breath, before making his way over to join her in the doorway. “I think you should go and play somewhere. Don't worry, you're perfectly safe.”

  “Do you know who it is?” she asks, looking up at him.

  “The person screaming?” He shakes his head. “No, I'm afraid I don't, not yet.”

  “Do you know why she's screaming?” She pauses. “I twisted my ankle once and I cried a lot. It really hurt, but... Well, I didn't make a noise like the noise out there.”

  “You should go and play,” he tells her again. “There's nothing you can do, and I have to go out.”

  “Where?”

  “Your mother told me about a nice diner.”

  She nods. “Hoare's does good burgers, but... It won't be very nice there with this noise still going on.”

  “I suppose not.”

  Still staring up at him, she seems lost in thought for a moment. “Are you...”

  He waits for her to finish the question. “Am I what?”

  She blinks a couple of times. “I was just thinking about how you showed up just as the scream started,” she tells him. “Are you here to stop it?”

  “I should get to that diner,” he replies, as his stomach rumbles. “I've been traveling for three days non-stop to get here, and I really need something to eat.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Is that everyone?” Matt asks, looking at the piece of paper that Robert Leary has used to write down all the names. “Are you sure?”

  “Hang on,” Robert replies, running a finger along the list as he tries to count. “It's hard to concentrate with the scream still going on.” He takes a moment longer, muttering to himself as he turns back to the first page. “Yes Sir, that's it. Two hundred and ninety names, everyone who lives in Pine Ridge.”

  “Start ticking off everyone you can see around right now,” Matt tells him. “We need to work out who's missing. Like I said before, logic is the way to go here. If we account for everyone we can find, there should be one name left.”

  As Robert gets to work, Matt takes a couple of steps back toward the center of the town square, where Susan Etterman has her fingers in her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the scream. She even took a free pair of foam ear-plugs from Stanley the pharmacist, but they haven't done much to help.

  “Anything?” she asks.

  “We're taking a roll-call,” Matt tells her, “so we can try to figure out who's missing.”

  “How does that help?” she asks. “Isn't it more important to find the poor soul first? I mean, listen to her! She sounds like she's in agony!”

  “If we know who it is, we might have a better idea of where she'll be.”

  “I can't find Sammy,” says Mary Hopkins as she reaches them. “She was supposed to be coming in for a shift around now, but she's nowhere around. Donnie at the post office hasn't seen her either.”

  “I saw her a moment ago,” Susan tells her, pointing toward the movie theater. “She was around the back there with Judy Cluny, they were going to take a look in the old woodsheds.”

  “Are you sure?” Mary asks.

  She nods.

  “Strike Sammy off the list,” Mary tells Robert. “I was wrong, someone's seen her.”

  “We need people to be careful,” Matt continues, as he spots Don Ridley lumbering toward them across the grass, red-faced and out of breath. “The situation might be dangerous. We don't know what we're dealing with, but we have to assume that whoever's doing this... Well, it might not be someone we can just approach without caution. We need to be calm, logical, rational and -”

  “What the hell is goin' on here?” Don shouts, pushing a couple of people out of the way before spotting Robert and going over to watch as he crosses more names off the list. “Don't forget me,” he mutters, kicking the side of the piece of paper. “Cross me off too. I'm right here.”

  “I'm well aware of that,” Robert replies, striking a thick line through Don's name, thicker than the rest. “If you -”

  “Give me that,” Don adds, grabbing the piece of paper and taking a look at the names, before grabbing the pen too and scrubbing a few off the list. “I've seen those two already,” he mutters. “Her too.”

  “We're trying to be scientific about this,” Matt tells him, clearly annoyed. “It's easy for someone to mistakenly -”

  “And I saw her,” Don mutters, crossing out another name before tossing the paper and pen aside. “It's been almost an hour now. Whoever's screaming, she must be almost out of lung-power by now.”

  “I'm not sure it works quite like that,” Matt replies.

  “Well?” Don continues, turning to the others. “What are you all doing standin' around like this? We need every single person to get out there and check all the buildings, all the areas, this goddamn scream -” Letting out a gasp of frustration, he turns and looks back across the square as the vein on his forehead visibly throbs. “If it lasts much longer,” he says finally, “I think I might just explode.”


  “It's been fifty-eight minutes,” Mary tells him, tapping the screen on her watch. “I happened to notice the time just as it started.”

  “Fifty-eight minutes of screamin',” Don replies, stepping over to take a look in the direction of the courthouse. “My God, how can anyone last that long?”

  “It's almost impressive,” suggests a girl standing nearby. “I mean, apart from the context...”

  “She seems to get a little weaker sometimes,” Matt points out. “I even thought she was going to stop at one point, but then she just kept going, almost like someone did something new to her.”

  “You think it might be a recordin'?” Don asks, turning to him. “Like, some kind of trick?”

  Matt shakes his head. “Unfortunately, it sounds very real and live to me.”

  “Me too,” Mary adds, wincing a little as the scream seems to choke for a few seconds before it resumes with a kind of whimpering, sobbing horror. “You can hear when she has to stop to gulp in more air. It's so horrible, I can't imagine what would cause someone to scream like that for -” Checking her watch, she turns to Don. “It's been an hour now. How is that even possible?”

  “Makes my goddamn skin crawl,” Don replies. “I will personally give two hundred dollars, cash, to the first person who stops all of this!” He turns to look at some of the others, as if his frustration is starting to boil over. “And if this is someone's idea of a sick joke,” he adds, “I swear to God I will whip that son-of-a-bitch all the way out to the edge of town! Is that clear?”

  “How are you getting on with the list?” Matt asks, turning to Robert.