Lizzie screamed as she fell back, watching in horror as Kirsty's severed head fell to the floor. For a moment, the head seemed to still be alive, as its eyes blinked and its mouth twitched, but finally it fell still as the decapitated corpse slumped forward and landed on top of Lizzie. With warm blood flowing all over her face and chest, Lizzie screamed again and tried to push the body away, only to feel a tendril wrapping firmly around her ankle and then pulling her through the blood until she slammed into the side of the door.
“No!” she shouted, trying to hold onto the door, only for the tendril to tug her again and drag her into the darkened storeroom. She clattered into another set of shelves and tried to hold on, but the smeared blood on the floor was making her much more slippy and as she tried in vain to grab onto each passing shelf, she couldn't stop herself being dragged further and further into the shadows.
As she finally reached the creature again, she felt another tendril wrap itself around her waist, and after a moment she was lifted up off the floor and turned until, sobbing and terrified, she found herself face to face with the huge creature.
“What do you want?” she screamed, desperately trying to get free as she worked to loosen the tendril that was wrapped around her torso. “What do you want with us?”
As she was lifted closer to the creature, she saw that its dark eye was staring straight at her. For a few seconds, all she could do was stare back, and she felt certain that she was in the company of something intelligent, something that was capable of thought and that even seemed to be reaching out to her with its mind. Starting to feel sickened by the stench of death all around her, she finally let out a gasp of pain as she felt the tendril tightening around her waist, and after a moment she saw that there was a second opening on the side of the creature's bulbous central mass, with rows of sharp needle-like teeth waiting to bite into her.
Reaching over to the nearby shelf, she tried to find something she could use to defend herself, but she was soon pulled too close to the creature. Turning, she stared once again into its eye as she saw another thick, glistening tentacle rising up and moving toward her face. Pulling back, she began to sob as she felt the tendril brushing against her cheek, almost as if the creature was studying her for a moment.
“Please help me,” Lizzie whimpered, as tears streamed down her face. She closed her eyes, but she could already smell something rotten, and finally she turned to see that she was just inches from the creature's mouth. “Please...”
Finally, realizing that she had no other options, she grabbed one of the tendrils and held it for a moment, before lifting it up and pressing it against the nearest wall-mounted electric light. As soon as the creature's glistening black flesh touched the bulb, it began to sizzle, and Lizzie was shocked to see a flame bursting from the skin. Letting out a cry of pain, she pressed the tendril more firmly against the light, watching as smoke began to rise from the burning flesh. The flame began to spread along its length, passing over her hands as it made its way toward the creature's central mass.
“Freeman said you guys burn easily,” Lizzie hissed, ignoring the pain in her hands as the tendril burst into flames. “Let's see if -”
Before she could finish, the tendril around her waist suddenly loosened and let her fall down against the concrete floor. Landing hard, she was momentarily stunned before turning to look up at the creature and seeing that the flames had spread from one tendril to another, while still rippling through the flesh and heading toward the central mass. Scrambling to her feet, Lizzie ducked at the last moment as a tendril lashed out at her; instead of taking her head off, the tendril crashed into a nearby shelf and sent it toppling down.
For a moment, Lizzie watched as the flailing creature lashed out with its burning tentacles. As the flames began to reach the main part of the creature's body, however, Lizzie turned and began to limp away, making her way across the storeroom and heading for the door. She stopped for a moment as she saw Kirsty's decapitated corpse, with the head nearby, and for a few seconds her mind went completely blank, as the horrors of the past few days caught up with her and seemed to paralyze her completely. She saw flashes in her mind, showing her all the people who had died, but finally she realized that there'd be time for reflection later.
She took a step forward.
And then the Great Memnon exploded.
A huge inferno blasted through the diner, knocking out the walls and sending Lizzie screaming through the air until she crashed through one of the windows and was blown clean out of the building, landing out in the yard as a shower of broken wood and glass crashed down all around her. She lay completely still as two more, smaller explosions tore off part of the diner's roof and sent a fireball into the sky. From somewhere deep inside the diner, a faint, tortured scream could be heard, but that scream was quickly drowned out by the sound of the flames that were now roaring through the remains of the building.
As the diner continued to burn, Lizzie lay completely still. There were hundreds of small cuts all over her body, and some of those cuts had pieces of glass poking out. Her eyes were closed and blood was dribbling down her face from a large wound just below her hairline, caused when she'd hit the ground and her head had bounced off a rock. All around, smoke rose up into the sky and began to drift slowly toward Mount Everbee.
“And that's Mount Everbee,” John said, pointing out at the window. “Doesn't it look beautiful?”
“What's up there, Dad?” asked Kevin, leaning across his sister's lap so he could see out.
“Cut it out!” she snapped, pushing him back over to his side of the car's back seat. “Dad, Kevin's being a jerk again!”
“Mount Everbee is just one big, beautiful, unspoiled natural paradise,” their father continued. “I think there's a camp of some sort at the base, and there's a large lake, but when you get up on the mountain itself there's nothing but untamed wilderness. You know, if you kids are really lucky, maybe your mother and I will take you up there some time. I'm sure we'd have a whole lot of fun!”
“Are there lions?” Kevin asked.
“Are there tigers?” his sister added.
“I don't think so,” John said with a smile. “The most you'll find up on Mount Everbee are a few squirrels and beavers, although those critters can be pretty nasty if you -”
“Dad, stop!” Kevin shouted suddenly.
Spotting the figure up ahead, John slammed his foot on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt on the open country road. Taking a deep breath, he peered out the window for a moment and watched as the figure continued to limp toward them for a few more faltering steps.
“What's wrong with her?” Kevin whispered.
“She looks weird,” his sister replied. “Is she poorly?”
“Just stay in the car, kids,” John said, clearly concerned as he opened the door and climbed out.
“But Dad,” Kevin began, “we -”
“Stay in the car!”
A few meters ahead, Lizzie stopped and stared at him. Her clothes were torn to shreds from the force of the explosion, and a significant amount of blood had leaked out and dried all over her skin, much of which had been shredded by glass from the diner's window. After a moment, she held out her hand, in which she was clutching the tip of a thick black tendril, which she finally tossed down onto the tarmac.
“Are you...” John paused. “Um, are you okay?”
Lizzie stared at him, but she made no attempt to answer.
“Do you...” Reaching into his pocket, John pulled out his mobile phone. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, as his trembling fingers began to dial for the emergency services. “Where did you come from?”
Slowly, Lizzie opened her mouth, but before she could say a word she had to spit out a couple of pieces of glass.
“Jesus,” John continued, stepping toward her, “you look like hell. It's okay, though, I'm gonna call an ambulance.” Dialing 999, he waited for someone to answer. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”
Lizzie's lips moved, and she muttered something quietly.
“What was that?” John asked.
She said it again, but her speech was slurred and she could barely get anything out.
“I'm sorry,” John continued, taking another step toward her, “I still couldn't...”
“I
said
,” Lizzie replied, slowly and firmly this time, “get me the President of the United States.”
ALSO BY AMY CROSS
Horror
Asylum
The Girl Clay
3AM
The Prison
American Coven
The Night Girl
Devil's Briar
Ward Z
The Devil's Photographer
The House We Haunted and Other Stories
Darper Danver series 1
The Writer (13 Nights of Horror)
The Disappearance of Rose Hillard (13 Nights of Horror)
The Fan (13 Nights of Horror)
Hugo: The Lockton Downs Haunting (Novella)
Fantasy / Horror
Dark Season series 1, 2 & 3
The Hollow Church (Abby Hart 1)
Vampire Asylum (Abby Hart 2)
Dead Souls Volume One: Parts 1 to 13
Dead Souls Volume Two: Parts 14 to 26
Lupine Howl series 1, 2, 3 & 4
Grave Girl
Graver Girl (Grave Girl 2)
Ghosts
The Library
Journey to the Library (The Library Saga 2)
The Ghosts of London
The Vampire's Grave
The Werewolf's Curse
Thriller
Ophelia
The Dead City (Ophelia 2)
The Girl Who Never Came Back
The Dead and the Dying (Joanna Mason 1)
The House of Broken Backs (Joanna Mason 2)
The Pornographer's Wife
Other People's Bodies
Dystopia / Science Fiction
The Shades
Finality series 1
Mass Extinction Event series 1, 2 & 3
Erotica
Broken Blue
Broken White
Also by Amy Cross
THE GIRL CLAY
Ten years ago, a scared little girl was supposed to lead a doomsday cult to a new level of spiritual awakening. Today, that same little girl is on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of a vengeful minor deity.
Rebecca 'Clay' Layton knows that one day the past will catch up to her. Ever since her mother took her to live with the Cult of Attaroth, something has been different about Clay: not only does she have a striking ability to communicate with the dead, but she has also drawn the attention of a dangerous, unstable entity that wants to use her as his instrument.
Attaroth is both a god and a demon, all rolled into one. He has Clay in his sights, and he's determined to draw her back into his game. When he forces her to travel to the remote town of Silverglade, however, it becomes clear that Attaroth's plans are far darker than anyone could ever have expected. After ten years, a horrific prophecy is about to be put to the test, and Clay's blood is required.
The Girl Clay
is the story of a little girl who was pushed too far, and a woman who finally has to stop running and face the demon from her childhood.
Also by Amy Cross
ASYLUM
After killing her younger brother, Annie Radford is sent to Lakehurst Psychiatric Hospital. But Lakehurst hides some dark secrets. Patients are regularly subjected to 'special treatment' in the basement, while the cruel Nurse Winter rules the hospital with an iron fist.
As Annie struggles to retain her sense of identity, she finds herself being drawn deeper and deeper into the mysteries of Lakehurst. Suffering under the horrific conditions imposed on her at Lakehurst, Annie starts to doubt her own sanity, especially when she once again starts to hear the voices that plagued her when she was younger.
Who is the strange old man in the attic? What does Jerry keep in a jar in the basement, and why is he so keen to continue with his macabre and vicious experiments? Where did the husks come from? And how is this all linked to mysterious radio signals being monitored in a forest hundreds of miles away?
Also by Amy Cross
THE PRISON
One hundred years ago, a horrific mass murder resulted in the permanent closure of Hardstone Women's Prison. Now the prison is being re-opened, but as a new generation of prisoners arrive to fill the cells, something evil is waiting in the shadows.
Amanda Weir doesn't remember killing her children. All she knows is that she woke up with their bloody bodies in her arms. Sentenced to life in prison, she arrives at Hardstone and tries to adjust to her new life. All she wants is to forget her old self, and to find some way to live with what she did. After all, there's no way she could be innocent...
There's something else at Hardstone, however. Something lost and alone, something angry. The ghost of a little girl has been spotted several times, and the prisoners have learned a valuable lesson: whenever the ghost is seen, anyone who looks into its eyes will be dead within a matter of days. But what does the ghost want, and exactly how far has its influence spread in the lives of the prisoners?