BooksBarbecue
Back Gallows Hill Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45

The shivers refused to abate. She rested her forehead on top of her knees as burning tears flooded her eyes.

She hadn’t cried at all during her parents’ funerals. She’d been too lost, too uncertain. She’d had no memories of them. There hadn’t even been any photos; the only image she’d had of her parents were the distorted, broken faces inside the caskets.

Now, tears came hot and fast. For her parents, for Margot herself, and for what they all had lost.

What did this house do to you?

She lay back on the bed, sheets and clothing sticking to her clammy skin, and stared up at the ceiling as she let the tears fall into the hair on either side of her face.

Distantly, in some far part of the house, a bell rang.

Margot closed her eyes and pressed her palms into the aching lids. Go away. Go away. Go away—

A second bell began to ring. This one was closer and on the ground floor. Then a third started, along the hall outside her room. And finally, the bell near Margot’s own door leapt to life, pealing out its warning as it twitched and thrashed on the end of its hook like a living thing.

She moved her hands from her eyes to her ears, teeth grit and face damp as she waited for the sound to stop. It only seemed to grow louder, ringing from every corner of the house, ceaseless.

And then…it did cease. All at once, like the wire had been cut, every bell fell still and silent. Margot watched her room’s own alarm. It was barely visible in the shadows, except for the way it faintly swayed.

She rolled onto her side again, facing the window so she wouldn’t have to look at the door any longer. The tiredness was still there but worse, stretching her like taffy, pulling a little more with each second to see just how far she could go before she broke. But now that she’d woken, she couldn’t fall asleep. Her pulse was alive, jumping as though to keep time with the now-silent bells.

They’re not in the house. Not yet. That’s only the boundary line warning. But it means they’re coming. Whatever they are. They’re on their way, and I don’t know how long it will take them to get here, but they’re coming for the house.

She strained to see any trace of light through the window, but the sky was heavy, only a trace speckling of stars to show it existed there at all.

Margot squeezed her hands into fists and held them under her throat. Her skin was sticky there with still-drying sweat. She forced her eyes closed and willed the darkness to calm her racing heart.

How far away are they now? Half the distance? More?