Jamie was frozen to the spot. He couldn’t believe this. Where were they all coming from? There was no way he could catch them all, so he picked up his shoe and brought it down on the first spider.

‘Kill them!’ shouted Kirsty.

The body of the first spider was stuck to the sole of his shoe. He whacked the second spider, then a third.

Kirsty shrieked. She had never let Jamie kill a spider before. No matter how much she hated and feared them, she would never allow one to be harmed. Now she wanted to see them crushed. She wanted them all dead. ‘Kill them!’

He killed them all, one by one, then sat back, panting, his heart thumping. He looked at the little wrecked bodies and immediately felt remorseful. They were only spiders, but they were so small and helpless. It was Kirsty’s fault for getting so hysterical.

He turned towards her. ‘Look what you made me do!’

‘What?’ She looked up at him. Her face was streaked with tears. He realised how petrified she had been, and now he felt remorse for shouting at her. He sat on the edge of the sofa and hugged her. She was shaking.

‘Where did they all come from, Jamie?’

‘I don’t know, sweetheart. I really don’t know.’

‘They were coming straight for me. They wanted to get me.’

‘Don’t be silly.’

She wiped her eyes with a trembling hand. ‘I bet it was them.’

‘Who?’

‘Them. Lucy and Chris. They sent them up here to get me.’

‘How could they have?’

‘Easily! They could have put them under the door, or I don’t know, maybe they trained them.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘You know what Lucy said about Mary being a witch. Well, maybe it’s really Lucy who’s the witch. She’s evil enough. I bet they poisoned us last night. We saw her go into the kitchen in the restaurant. And then they made those spiders come up here to get me.’

‘Kirsty, you should hear yourself. And how would they know you’re scared of spiders?’

‘They listen to us all the time. They’ve probably got it recorded.’ Her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘They’re probably listening to us right now, gauging our reaction, laughing at us. Oh God.’

Jamie shushed her. ‘Kirsty, this is crazy. Lucy and Chris are nasty, twisted people. We know that. But they’re not witches. They’re not able to command spiders and send them after people.’

Suddenly, the flat was filled with a deafening series of beeps.