Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories Read online

  ***

  She's still sobbing as I push the door open. She's on the table in the dark garage, curled in a ball and facing the far wall, and I don't think she's knows I'm here yet.

  Taking care not to make any noise, I quietly close the door and then creep over to take a closer look. Pa's changed her into a black t-shirt and some pants, but there are flecks of blood on the floor and I know that whatever Brother did earlier, he must have really hurt her. Stepping around the table, I look at the back of her head and see that her whole body is shuddering as she weeps. Pa has removed the ropes and replaced them with a single handcuff that's holding her wrist to the table. I suppose he did that to make her more comfortable and -

  Suddenly she turns and lunges at me, trying to grab my arm. I pull away but at the same time I fall, stumbling back and landing hard on the floor as Lindsay stares down at me with wild, tear-filled eyes.

  “If you come near me,” she sneers, “I will fucking kill you, do you understand?” She stares at me for a moment longer. “Do you understand?” she screams.

  “Quiet!” I hiss. “Please...”

  “Do you understand?” she shouts.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” I ask.

  She pauses, watching me with shock in her eyes.

  “I want you to stay,” I continue. “I really, really want you to stay and be my sister, but Pa...” I pause for a moment, still trying to work out whether this is the right decision. “Pa says you don't have a choice,” I tell her, “but I think maybe... No-one'll come and rescue you. I don't know how, but Pa knows how to make sure people don't find us. He's clever like that, but... If you really don't want to be my sister, then we shouldn't force you. Not like the others, 'cause it never worked with them anyway. So if you really want to leave, maybe I can help you.”

  I wait for her to reply, but she's still just staring at me.

  “Please stay,” I add. “Please, I want a sister so bad. If you just stay, you'll start to see that it's okay living here. We can start by making jam tomorrow. Wait 'til you see the gooseberries I picked today, they're the biggest and the fattest, they're the juiciest I ever saw in my life!”

  Again I wait, hoping that she'll tell me she understands, but she just looks horrified.

  “I want a sister,” I continue, struggling to keep from crying, “and Pa promised I'd have one eventually, and then when he found you, he said you'd finally arrived. He said you'd be different, not like the others. So I want you to stay more than I want anything in the world, but I know Brother hurt you and...” I take a deep breath. “So if you really, really don't want to stay, then...” I pause, before looking at the handcuff around her wrist. “I know where the key is,” I add finally. “If you want, I can help you get out. I don't wanna, but I will if you wanna.”

  Nine

  She lets out a gasp of pain as she drops to her knees next the kitchen door. I try to catch her, but she grabs hold of the door-frame and steadies herself as a cold wind blows in from the yard.

  “Are you okay?” I whisper.

  “Where the fuck are we?” she stammers, her voice trembling with fear. Cold wind is blowing across the fields, ruffling the fabric of her shirt. “It looks like we're in the middle of fucking nowhere!”

  “There's a road,” I whisper, “that leads to another road, and then another, and eventually there'll be people who can help you.”

  She turns to me, and there's still anger in her eyes. “How far?”

  “I... I don't know.”

  “A mile? Five?”

  “I don't know.”

  “Do you have a car?”

  “Pa has a truck,” I tell her, “but he always sleeps with the key in his room.”

  “Can you get it?”

  “Not without waking him up. Not tonight. But if you stay 'til tomorrow night, maybe I -”

  “No fucking way,” she hisses, wincing as she struggles to get up. With only one foot, she can't really walk, but she leans against the frame and kind of hops slightly, before stopping again.

  “Wait!” I whisper, turning and hurrying across the kitchen. Sure enough, when I open the cupboard I find the old set of crutches that Pa built for Brother a few years ago, so I grab them and take them back to Lindsay. “You can use these if you like,” I tell her. “Pa made them after Brother got his leg bitten by the pig he was trying to...” I pause, before realizing that I don't really need to tell her everything. The more she knows about Brother, the less she might change her mind and decide to stay. “Well, you can use them, that's all.”

  She stares at me for a moment, almost as if she's worried it's a trap, and then she reaches out and takes the crutches. She struggles to get them into place, and they're a little bit too short for her, but finally she manages to hobble out into the yard.

  “Do you know where my phone is?” she asks.

  “Did you have a phone with you?”

  She turns to me. “Let me guess,” she mutters. “You hicks don't even have mobiles, do you?”

  “I... don't know.”

  “Of course you fucking don't,” she continues. “I'm going to have to walk, aren't I? Which way is the nearest town?”

  “I don't know. I just know where the road is. Sometimes when you're near the road, you can see people going past. Maybe one of them will help you.”

  I wait for her to reply, but she seems to be looking toward the pig-pen, as if something has caught her attention. After a moment, I realize I can hear it too; something seems to be disturbing the animals, and there's a faint, breathless gasping sound. I feel a shudder of disgust as soon as I understand what Brother's doing over there.

  “What the hell are you people?” Lindsay stammers, turning to me with wild, shocked eyes. “Is this like some kind of fucking... rural hillbilly... foul...”

  I shake my head.

  “I have to get out of here,” she continues, turning and leaning on the crutches as she tries to make her way across the mud. “You people are sick, you're fucking disgusting sub-human pieces of -”

  Before she can finish, she slips and falls, landing hard on her knees and then toppling forward into the mud. I hurry over and start helping her up, but a light rain is still falling and there's not much moonlight. The fields all around the farmhouse are dark and desolate, with a strong wind whipping through the air, and I can't help feeling scared by the thought of going out there. After all, Pa has always warned me about the things that live in the forest, and he says they only come out at night. Then again, Pa says a lot of things.

  “Jesus!” Lindsay hisses, pushing me away as she hauls herself up and starts limping toward the gate. “I have to get out of this place! You people are fucking sick!”

  I stay on the ground for a moment, listening to the sound of the pigs squealing and the sound of Brother grunting, and then I look over at Lindsay and watch as she struggles out through the gate. Pa's going to be so mad in the morning when he finds out that I let her go, he'll probably beat me as bad as he beat Brother, but I'm just going to have to make him understand. He can't stay mad at me forever, and maybe he'll even recognize that I'm right. After a few seconds, however, I hear another cry from the dark, and I realize that Lindsay must have fallen again.

  Getting to my feet, I hurry across the yard, and sure enough she's on the muddy ground, crawling past the stone wall.

  “Not that way,” I tell her. “You need to go the other way.”

  She stops and looks at me, before grabbing the crutches and once again trying to get up. She's out of breath, so I step over and put an arm around her, just to steady her as she tries to regain her balance. I don't know what else I can do to help her, but it's pretty clear she can't manage the whole walk by herself like this. I wish there was some way to get the keys from Pa's pocket, but I know he'd wake up if I tried to sneak into his room. And then he'd probably decide Lindsay wasn't working out, and she'd be added to the garden of crosses.

  “How far?” Lindsay gasps breathlessly. “It just lo
oks like... darkness everywhere.”

  “It's a few miles,” I tell her, “but... I can show you, if you like.”

  She glances down at me. “But you're one of them.”

  “I don't want a sister who doesn't want to be my sister,” I reply, even though I hate the idea of letting her go. “Pa'll understand that after a while, he's not a bad person. And Brother...” I flinch as I hear more squeals from the pig-pen. “Brother's just who he is. Pa thinks his head got damaged in the accident he had before he was found and brought here, but that's no excuse. He shouldn't have done what he did to you.”

  “He's a fucking...” She looks back toward the house. “I'm gonna get the cops out here to drag that bastard away in cuffs.”

  “What are cops?” I ask.

  She turns to me. “Seriously? How fucking isolated and cut-off from the world are you out here?”

  “We should hurry,” I tell her. “If Pa wakes up and sees us, he'll get angry. Unless...” I pause, feeling a crushing, tightening sensation in my chest. “Are you sure you wanna leave?” I ask. “I mean, are you really, really sure you don't wanna stay just for a day or two and see if you might like it here?”

  “Are you serious?” she stammers.

  “You really might like it,” I continue. “I do.”

  “You're insane,” she replies. “I'm getting the fuck out of here and calling for help!”

  She tries to limp forward, but I can tell she's struggling so I keep hold of her, supporting her as much as possible as we make our way slowly along the dirt path. I keep expecting to hear Pa's voice shouting at me, ordering me back, but so far he seems to be sleeping through everything. I just hope he doesn't hate me when he finds out what I've done. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the house and then I spot the garden of crosses silhouetted against the night sky. I don't say anything about them, though. If Lindsay saw them, she'd probably get more upset.

  ***

  Several hours later, after we've been walking across miles and miles of muddy farmland, I finally see a building up ahead, by the side of an empty road. I've never been this far from the farm before and I feel scared, but I figure I've almost got Lindsay to safety now. The sky is getting brighter to the east, with warm yellows and red layered between the darkness above and the ground below, but there's still a strong, cold wind.

  “Nearly there,” I tell Lindsay. She hasn't said anything for a while, and her breathing is sounding more and more labored. “Do you see? We're nearly at... somewhere.”

  “We have to call the cops,” she gasps, sounding weaker than ever. “I need a doctor, too. That bastard... It hurts so much.”

  “What hurts?” I ask, although I immediately realize that she probably means the damage that Brother caused. I've tried not to think about that, but I'm sure she'll soon find a doctor who can help, maybe even someone who's better than Pa when it comes to fixing people. I used to think no-one could be better than Pa, but -

  Suddenly she stumbles, and this time I can't quite keep her up. She drops to her knees, and a moment later I realize that she's sobbing. Before I can say anything, I see lights moving in the distance as a car drives along the otherwise deserted road. Instinctively ducking down, I watch with a sense of panic as the car flashes past and continues on its way. It's not often that I see an actual sign of other people, and my first thought is to turn and run. I can't leave Lindsay, though, so I reach down and help her up. In the back of my mind, I keep hoping that by helping her, I'll make her change her mind, and she'll ask to come back with me to the farm.

  “Just a little further,” I tell her, even though I'm also struggling now. Every bone in my body aches. “There's bound to be someone who can help you.”

  Even though the building looks close, it takes us another hour or so to get all the way across the field and down to the edge of the road. A couple more cars drive past, but for the most part the area is still pretty deserted. When we finally get to the road, I look both ways before helping Lindsay across, and I can't help noticing that the building has a large sign set up high against the cold, rainy sky. I don't know what Happy Eater means, but the building is low and long, with lots of windows. I've never seen anywhere like it before, and as we get closer, I realize that there are no lights on.

  “What the fuck is this?” Lindsay stammers.

  When we reach the steps, I ease her down.

  “Is it a gas station?” she asks, looking around. “Where is everyone?”

  Making my way up the steps, I reach some kind of door made of glass. The word 'Push' has been written on part of it, but nothing happens when I try. Peering inside, I see that there's not really much in there, and then finally I see a sign on the wall nearby, although I don't understand all the words. Pa taught me to read, but only things that might be useful around the farm.

  “It's shut down,” Lindsay says breathlessly. “Fuck, I remember driving past this the other day, before the crash. Dad went on about how good Happy Eater used to be, and how it was a shame they're all gone now.” She leans back and lets out a gasp of pain. “There has to be a phone somewhere.”

  She starts getting to her feet.

  “I'll look,” I tell her. “Don't strain yourself! What will the phone look like?”

  Ignoring me, she leans on the crutches and starts limping along the side of the building. I follow, waiting to catch her if she falls, but she seems to have found a little more strength now. When we get around the next corner, she makes straight for a piece of metal on the wall, and to my surprise I realize that it looks like the old broken phone that Pa keeps at the farm.

  Grabbing the receiver, Lindsay lifts it to her ear and then lets out a sigh of relief.

  “There's still a tone,” she stammers. “Thank fuck, there's a tone.” She stabs one of the buttons three times, before slowly leaning against the wall.

  I turn as another car drives past, but it doesn't stop.

  “Police!” Lindsay says suddenly, and when I turn back I see that she's still talking into the phone. “I'm at a Happy Eater near Wexham,” she continues, “and I need help. I've been kidnapped, but I escaped, but they might come for me at any minute. I'm hurt, I need an ambulance too. Oh God, I don't even know what he did to me, but it hurts so much...” She's sobbing now, barely getting the words out at all. “No,” she says after a moment, “there's a little girl with me. I think she was kidnapped too, but we got away together. She's hurt, though, and...”

  She stares at me for a moment, and finally I realize that she's listening to a voice that seems to be coming out of the phone. Pa told me that's how they work, but I'd never actually seen one in action before.

  “It's like an abandoned Happy Eater,” she continues. “I don't know the address, but someone must know where we are. Can't you trace the call or something?” She listens for a few more seconds. “Just get here as fast as you can,” she adds, sobbing again. “You just have to get here, and then you have to find my parents 'cause I don't know where they are. My name's Lindsay Collins, I'm eighteen years old, my parents are Thomas and Judith Collins and I think we were in a car crash...”

  She listens for a moment longer, before suddenly putting the receiver back and then dropping down to the ground with her back still against the wall. Taking slow, deep breaths, she's clearly in a lot of pain.

  “They're coming,” she says finally, as her eyes start to close. She seems to be falling asleep for a moment, but then she lifts her head again and looks at me. “The cops are coming, and an ambulance. They know where we are. They'll be here in about ten minutes.”

  “Are you sure you don't want to come back and be my sister?” I ask.

  She stares at me. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “I helped you,” I point out.

  “What?”

  I open my mouth to explain, but suddenly I realize that it was a dumb hope. She's from one world and I'm from the other, and I guess we just can't mix.

  “It's okay,” I continue, feeling a cr
ushing sense of hopelessness in my chest. Maybe I'll never get a new sister. I pause for a moment, not really knowing how to say goodbye. I've never had to leave someone before, but Pa will be up by now and he's probably realized what I did. I'm going to be in so much trouble when I get home.

  “We're free,” Lindsay says, almost closing her eyes again. Reaching out, she puts a hand on my arm. “How long had you been there?”

  “As long as I remember,” I tell her. “Since I was a baby, Pa said.”

  “Jesus. And your face...”

  “That was from the crash,” I explain. “Pa rescued me, like he rescued you, except I was younger. He said I was really badly hurt and I almost died. He said I cried a lot.”

  “And that other guy,” she continues, “the one who... Was he rescued from a car crash too?”

  I nod. “Before me. He's older.”

  “That's a lot of accidents on one stretch of road,” she replies. “Don't you think that maybe that man is somehow causing them? Maybe your Pa's doing something.”

  I shake my head. “He just says it's bad luck.”

  “Well,” she continues, “he's going to have to explain it all to the police, because I'm fucking bringing them back here and I'm going to make those assholes pay for what they did to me.” She squeezes my arm. “To both of us. It must have been even worse for you, being there for so long. I'm just glad I managed to rescue you.”

  “Rescue me?” I ask with a frown.

  “From those fucking monsters!”

  “I should get back now,” I tell her cautiously. “Pa'll be worried.”

  “Back?” She stares at me, clearly shocked. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You're safe,” I point out, “and Pa always says I mustn't ever let anyone from the outside world see me, so -”

  “You're not going back!” she says firmly. “We got away! We're free! We just trekked miles across the open countryside to get away from those assholes!”