will be the first to go! It won't be me!”
Wayne, flustered, looked at me. Then the darkness seemed to fall over all of us and any decisions were taken out of our hands.
A scream came from the house. A man's scream. Shrill. Terrified. Barely even human. This was followed by an horrific staccato sound, pitched somewhere between a dry scream and a desperate clawing for breath. The mother broke her vigil at the front gate and ran shrieking into the house. She flung open the door and ran inside. Almost immediately her own screams joined the chorus.
Wayne, open mouthed, actually took a step forward. Then he stopped. No one, least of all me, wanted to go anywhere near that house. Several people ran in terror, hands clamped over their ears to block out the terrible sounds. Something was breaking inside the house. Glass smashed, wood splintered. There were other sounds that I didn't want to try and think about too closely: the sounds of people breaking. Absurdly that was the moment I noticed all the lights had gone out in the house. That was where the darkness had come from.
Someone inside found their voice. There was a final piercing shriek.
Then silence.
No one moved. No one stepped towards the house. No one tried to walk away. It seemed that no one even dared breathe. Then I heard crying in the distance and gradually the crowd came back to life. People looked nervously from one another.
But still no one dared go near the house.
And this is where my story ends. I was hoping to have a little longer, maybe long enough to figure out what's been going on, if there even is an explanation. I guess I'll have to leave that up to the others now, but I don't fancy their chances.
You see, there was a gravestone outside my house this morning.
It wasn't that much of a surprise; certainly not if you work on the assumption that everyone on the island is going to be marked sooner or later. I'd hoped it would be later, but what can you do? It didn't mean the bastard thing didn't stop me dead in my tracks the second I saw it. Nothing more than a plain grey slab of stone—that's all it is—with an inscription too worn to read. I knew what it meant, though, and the fear almost took me over. For a second I couldn't catch my breath. My head started to spin.
Then I pulled it all together and went for my walk.
Since it was the last walk I'd ever enjoy I made the most of it. When I eventually got home there was a group of people waiting for me. I didn't see Wayne among them.
“You here to make sure I don't go wandering off anywhere?” I asked.
“That's about it,” one of them answered. I didn't know who he was and I didn't really care. I looked into the crowd and saw fear in their eyes, the sort of fear that made people do crazy things.
“I'm heading back in now,” I told them. “I don't expect you'll see me again.”
As I opened my door and went to enter my house for the last time, a thought occurred to me. I turned back to the crowd and, with a dazzling smile, said: “Enjoy the show”.
I’ve been inside ever since. Waiting. Writing down the story so that someone, somewhere might know what happened here. Soon there won’t be any of us left. I don't mind that. I don't mind being one of the first to go either. Nothing ever changes on this island. This place is dead in its heart. I tried to leave a decade or two back. There was a time I thought I could live a real life in the outside world. I was wrong about that and came back with my tail between my legs. I came back to an island that hadn't forgiven me for wanting to be different and didn't want me back anyway.
The place is dead. I've been as good as dead for the last ten years. Why not make it official.
It's dark now. I think I can hear something moving.
I'm prepared. I don't mean I'm ready to go out like Evan, Gail and the others. No way. I mean that I dropped by the chemist the other day to pick up a few things. All things that are perfectly harmless when taken on their own but, in the right mixture, should see me out a lot more easily than … well, easier than what I heard last night. Easier than what I saw through Gail’s door.
So I've just taken enough sedative to bring down an elephant. I only hope it works quickly enough. If it doesn't I've got a knife to help me finish the job. I'll try to keep writing as long as I cann.
I here noises. Is it the others heard. Nothing outside Bruce's house last night.
Whoever or whatever came for him he was already inside. I think I now how I do
noises from underneath.
Not looking not lookjing
digging. digging it way in dirt hear the dirt falling into the ground back into the
not going to look
not
somethihg behind mee theres shadow on the screen in front of me somethig behidn me and arm its here
no
no
not going to look
its here
not going to
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
One
The Safety Dance
The Pumpkin Eater
The Last Laugh
Strawberries
The Christmas Guest
Bunnies
Colder Still
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