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Back The Family Next Door Save as PDF
Chapters (117)
  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Epigraph
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
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  108. 103
  109. 104
  110. 105
  111. 106
  112. 107
  113. 108
  114. 109
  115. 110
  116. Teaser chapter
  117. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

There was nothing else for it. I doled out more lollipops and invited every child to choose a toy to keep. As I handed over the beribboned bags, I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood and whispered to each of them that the puppet with the gray wispy hair was cursed and would come for them and their families if they dared to breathe a word.

“Sorry,” you said, flicking anxious glances in my direction, but I was too angry to answer you.

By the time the parents arrived to collect them, the children were docile enough to go home, more than a little subdued.

I sold one paltry toy that day.

37

37

Tuesday 31st July 2018, 12:01 A.M.

27 The Avenue

A boy’s laugh was playing on repeat.

Audrina sat up in bed, placed her hands over her ears and began to sing loudly to herself.

“Who would true valor see, let him come hither; one here will constant be, come wind, come weather—”

She stopped singing. The laughter was gone. The lamp in her bedroom was throwing down shadows, but the echo of his childish joy filled her heart. Oh, Joby. The arrival of the boy next door had unsettled her—that was all. Filled her head with memories best forgotten.

She switched off the light and lay in darkness. A rhythmic buzzing filled her up, like the march of a hundred-strong army of tin soldiers.

She curled herself into a ball and drew the pillow over her face. But when Cooper joined her half an hour later, she was still awake. He drew her shaking body to him, and it calmed her.

The night rolled into early morning, passing into yesterday.

But her sleep was restless, the voices of the past crowding her dreams. Joby. Mavis. The dead who haunted the woods across the street.

When she awoke, sweat gathered in the small of her back, nightie stuck to her skin, the room was in darkness save for a patch of moonlight, the air so warm it seemed to breathe.

Too overheated to do more than lie still, Audrina listened for the voices but they had quieted for now, disappearing through the cracks in the walls.

The clock on her bedside table ticked away the minutes. 2:57 A.M. 2:58 A.M. 2:59 A.M. She stared at the hands as they continued their inexorable progress, unable to relax, to even shift herself into a more comfortable position. She was wide awake, her body tensed and waiting, biting the skin around her nails. She listened for a while longer, trying to catch the sound of the en-suite toilet flushing, but there was no doubt about it. The room was too quiet, the absence of his heavy breathing louder than he was.

Audrina lay motionless under the rose-patterned bedspread, and she knew what all this silence meant: Cooper’s side of the bed was empty and she didn’t know where he had gone.

38

38

Tuesday 31st July 2018, 3:01 A.M.