F is for Feral (A-Z of Horror Book 6) Read online

  “Nothing,” she admitted. “I just think that Max has been goaded into a situation he may later regret.”

  Hannah huffed. “Goaded? Who even uses words like that? Stay out of it. If Max and Kerry wanna fuck, then that’s their business.”

  “Indeed it is,” Shav said. “I will say no more.”

  “You’ll have to watch out for the dead girl,” Hannah said.

  Kerry looked a little worried then. “Yeah, I didn’t think about that.”

  Max wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip away. He quickly said, “You’re not scared of your own ghost story, are you?”

  Kerry removed the look of concern from her face and looked once again confident. “No, of course not,” she said. “I’ll see you at eight, big boy.”

  “It’s a date,” said Max, clicking his fingers then walking away. Silently he cursed himself for being such a loser.

  It’s a date? Seriously, how lame can I possibly be?

  -2-

  Disaster almost struck at about 7PM. Max had been inside the static caravan with his parents when his mother turned to him and said, “Get dressed.”

  He was already dressed, so he asked what she meant.

  “We’re going out to dinner.”

  “Where?”

  “Your dad thought we’d go into town and look for an Indian.”

  Max immediately thought of Shav, but then shook his head and protested. “No.”

  “What do you mean, no?”

  “I don’t want to go.”

  His mother looked at him quizzically. “Why not? You love eating out.”

  “I have plans.”

  “What plans?”

  “I’m meeting someone.”

  His father came into the room then, washed, shaved, and ready to go out. “You not ready yet, Max?”

  “Mum only just told me.”

  “He doesn’t want to go,” his mother said.

  His father’s face darkened. “Why not?”

  “I have plans,” Max said timidly. It was a bad idea to argue with his father.

  “No, you don’t. You’re coming out with us.”

  “But…”

  “But what?” he snapped. “What would you rather be doing than coming out with your dear old mother who barely gets to see you?”

  “I don’t mind,” said Max’s mother, sighing. “It would be nice to have dinner on our own. It’s been a while since we had a night out just the two of us.”

  “He’s coming. No arguments.”

  “Dad, please. I agreed to meet someone.”

  Max’s father grew angrier, but then his expression turned curious. He looked at Max for a moment, then asked, “Are you meeting a girl?”

  Max said nothing, but his blush gave him away.

  His father grinned. “Hell, why didn’t you say, lad? Go on, then. Might make a man of you.”

  “I can go?”

  “Be back by ten.”

  Max nodded his head enthusiastically. “I promise.”

  “Max,” said his mother. “Who is this girl? Have her parents met you?”

  “No, mum. She’s just a girl I said I’d hang out with.”

  “Well, maybe I should take you to meet her, say hello.”

  “Leave the boy be,” Max’s father said. “He’s growing up. About time, too.”

  “Okay, okay. Have fun, Max, but be careful.”

  “Thanks, mum.” He flew out of the caravan door and raced down the road in the direction of the golf course. Night was just about to fall and everything had taken on a bluish-grey tint that would soon turn to black shadow. He couldn’t remember the way exactly, so he took a few wrong turns before he spotted the triangular flag peeking out above a hedge. By the time he reached the golf course, it was almost 7.30. Still plenty of time left. The thought of sitting and waiting for thirty minutes gave Max anxious butterflies, so he hoped Kerry would already be there, waiting him for him at the log. Maybe she’d be naked. But when he finally made his way through the trees, he found nothing waiting for him but the old log. He went and took a seat and immediately his knee began jigging up and down. His hands couldn’t help but fidget.

  His father had been right; Max was going to become a man tonight. Just so long as he managed to keep his nerves under control and not embarrass himself. How hard could it be, though? Everyone had sex eventually, and everyone had a first time. Maybe if he just came out and admitted that he was a virgin, Kerry would take it easy on him and show him what to do. Yeah right, he thought. If he admitted that she would laugh in his face and leave him standing there like the loser he was. Women liked strong men, his father had always told him that.

  The sound of a twig snapping.

  Max looked up and saw movement in the trees disturbing the shadows.

  “Hey, Kerry? Is that you?”

  No answer.

  Another twig snapped.

  “Kerry?”

  Maybe she was lost, nearby yet unable to pinpoint the exact spot where the old log lay.

  “Just follow my voice,” Max shouted, but was once again disturbed when he still received no answer.

  There were more twigs breaking and the snapping sounds seemed to be coming from both in front of and behind him. The shadows seemed to shift and dance and even if the sun had been up, there would have been no light beneath the canopy of the trees. Night had fallen.

  “Who’s there? Kerry, I’m here. Come out.”

  Max did not want to go into those trees, but his heart was beating too fast to stay perched on the log. He leapt up and his skittish legs started pumping. He headed towards the shadows where sticks continued to snap. Ready to run at any second, he swallowed his fear and tried to keep calm. If Kerry was still coming, he had to keep his shit together.

  His ankle bumped against something and made him yelp, but he was relieved, and embarrassed, when he saw it was just a tree stump. He stepped around it and continued to see movement up ahead.

  “Kerry,” he shouted, unable now to disguise his growing anger anymore. “Stop pissing around.”

  “Help me!”

  Max froze, his one foot still off the ground mid-step.

  “Help me!”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Help me find them.”

  Max swallowed. “Find what?”

  “I need to find…” Something leapt out at Max, grabbed his throat and screamed in his face. “My insides!”

  Max screamed so hard his throat hurt. He spun around and sprinted away, back towards the small clearing with the log. When he got there, a pale-faced girl was waiting for him. She reached out to him with her clawed fingers and where her stomach should have been was a bloody mess.

  “Do you have my insides?” she moaned. “Help me.”

  Max’s screams became continuous. He turned around to run away, but was once again faced with the dead girl looking for her guts. “Give me my insides.”

  “Leave me alone,” Max screamed, looking around for someplace to run. It was then that he noticed the dead girl was in two places at once, emerging from the woods in front of him and also sitting on the log behind him.

  Then he heard the laughing.

  “OMG, Kerry, I think he shit himself,” said the dead girl arriving from the trees.

  “That was so epic,” said the dead girl by the log.

  Max managed to catch his breath, but felt like he was going to throw up. He felt tears form in his eyes and was powerless to stop them from falling down his cheeks. “Wh-What? What’s happening?”

  “You just got pranked,” said the dead girl by the log who he was quickly coming to realise was Kerry in make-up. “You should have seen your face.” She rubbed at the red on her stomach and showed her stained palm to him. “Just red felt tip pens they use for Bingo at the clubhouse. Hannah swiped a whole box of them.”

  Max wiped a tear from his cheek and sobbed. His voice was full of upset when he spoke. “Why? I thought-”

  “You thought I was going to fuck
you?” Kerry said nastily. “Ew, dream on. I prefer guys much older than you. You’re just a kid.”

  Max turned to walk away.

  “Hey, don’t be such a baby,” Kerry said. “It was just a joke. Maybe Hannah will give you a handjob if you stop crying. Hey Hannah, what you think about giving little Maxie a tug?”

  There was no answer.

  As Max walked away, he glanced at the spot in the trees where Hannah had been standing and saw that she was now gone.

  “Hey,” Kerry shouted. “Hannah, come on out, you cow. Max is going off in a str-”

  There was a scream. It was accompanied by the sound of something savage – an animal noise.

  Max turned around to face Kerry, expecting it to be another joke at his expense that he was not going to fall for, but the sight of her wide, feral eyes in the darkness showed him that she didn’t know what was going on. Hannah continued screaming, somewhere off in the woods. It sounded like she was being torn apart by a bear.

  Kerry and Max said nothing. They just stood side-by-side, staring into the shadows.

  Then something flew out of the trees.

  Hannah’s body hit the ground in front of Max and Kerry like it had been launched from a cannon. There were no marker pen tricks this time; the blood was real. So was the fact that one of her arms had been torn off, leaving a ragged hole on the left side of her torso, and that only an empty hole remained where once had been her midsection.

  Max looked at Kerry in horror. Then shouted at her to run.

  -3-

  Max found that Kerry took off in the same direction as him, reaching out and clutching at his arm as the two of them ran screaming. After humiliating him, she was now looking to him for protection. Strange though it was, Max felt obligated to keep her safe. Something in the woods had killed her friend, and now it was after them

  Max realised that he had no idea where they were heading. Only shadows and trees in every direction.

  “It’s behind us,” Kerry shouted in terror.

  “What is?” Max asked, as mortified as she was.

  “It’s the monster in the woods,” she cried. “It’s real. It killed Hannah just like it killed Sharon. It’s a demon.”

  Something leapt out of the shadows ahead and stood in their way. Max was running too quickly to stop and the thing struck him in the ribs and sent him sprawling in the cold, hard mud. Kerry fell downright beside him, bleeding from a wound on her temple. She murmured something to him like she was drunk, then lay still, glancing around like she was in some kind of daze.

  Max went to get up, but the monster stood in front of him and blocked his escape. Instead of attacking him, though, it spoke. “I am no demon.”

  Max’s eyes went wide as he realised it was Shav standing in front of him. Blood coated her chin and lips and dripped down her naked body. Her breasts were small and round but the nipples were erect and surrounded by swollen pink circles. A thatch of brown hair stopped him from seeing what was between her legs.

  Max shook his head in confusion. “Shav?”

  Shav showed her teeth that were more wolf than human. “Hello, Max,” she said in a growl. “Did you get what you were promised?”

  He shook his head.

  “I suspected as much. Teenage girls are not to be trusted. Believe me, I used to be one. Are you okay?”

  Max frowned. “Am I okay? No. I…what have you done?”

  “Only what my nature requires. These woods are my home.”

  “Your home? What?”

  “For a hundred years I have lived here, ever since my family moved from India, hunted by the local tribesman there and forced to flee. These woods were much bigger then.”

  Max shuffled on his butt backwards in the dirt, moving away instinctually. Kerry was murmuring to herself again and he reached out to shake her awake. But when she did not wake, he looked back up at Shav. “What are you?”

  “I am Yakshas. I am a protector of Mother Nature’s treasures, and a warden of men. So too were my mother and father until a local farmer shot them dead whilst they were hunting for food. I have been alone for two years now, forever destined to be a young girl with no parents. It is a curse.”

  “What do you want?”

  “A boyfriend.”

  Max choked on a laugh that became a confused moan. “You want a boyfriend? Are you crazy? Why did you kill Hannah?”

  “Because I want you to be my boyfriend, Max, and she and Kerry hurt you. I knew they would. I could smell the spiteful intentions coming out of their pores.”

  “Y-You ate Hannah.”

  “Only a bit of her. Human flesh is a rare need in order to continue living on. You heard about the last time my family ate. It was a long time ago. As I said, it is a rare need.”

  Max understood what she was saying. “Sharon?”

  “Yes. My father killed her and brought back her life force to feed my mother and me. It pained him to do so, but we receive our extended years by taking the life force of the young. Sharon’s years were divided amongst my family.”

  Max got up suddenly, hoping to make a run for it, but Shav swung a fist and launched him back to the ground. He wheezed, clutched at his ribs, feeling like he’d been hit by a car.

  Shav’s face had changed. Her mouth had lengthened into a snout and her eyes sunk back into her skull. She snarled like a vicious dog.

  “Please don’t kill me,” Max pleaded.

  Shav allowed her face to return to human form and shook her head sympathetically. “I don’t wish to kill you, Max. I told you what I want.”

  Max rubbed at his ribs and sat up. “For me to be your boyfriend?”

  “Yes?”

  “How? I mean, you’re not even human.”

  “Neither will you be, if you accept me.”

  Max felt like he was dreaming. Thinking it was the only way he could keep going along with this bizarre conversation. “What will happen?”

  “We’ll lie down together, be as one, and you will awaken tomorrow morning more than you ever were before. You will live forever, if you are smart, and you will never again be alone. I will be yours and you will be mine, forever. We will protect this place with our lives, for it is special.”

  “Special?”

  “Yes? The Earth has gates that must be guarded. That is the sworn duty of the Yakshas. There are caverns beneath the very ground on which we stand. There is my home.”

  Max shook his head, feeling dizzy. “Gates? Gates to what?”

  “To the darkest abyss imaginable. My kind keeps out the darkness and allows the light of man to continue. One dead girl, here and there, is a small price to pay for the protection the Yakshas give this world. Join me, Max. Be more than you are.”

  “Can I stand up?”

  “Be mine and you can do whatever you want?”

  Max got to his feet slowly, still winded. He clutched his ribs and looked down at Kerry who had now fallen unconscious – sleeping it seemed like. “What will happen to her?”

  “She humiliated you. I would give her to you as a gift.”

  Max shook his head in despair. “A gift?”

  Shav stepped closer to him, making him shiver. The air seemed to vibrate around her and her eyes were purely animal as they bore into him. “I will never hurt you,” she purred. “I am alone and need a mate.” She leant in and kissed him, and Max was disgusted at himself for allowing her to. Within seconds they were tonguing one another savagely, the blood on her lips mingling with their saliva. Max felt himself slip away, felt something powerful come over him. He threw the inhuman girl down on the ground and entered her right there on the ground, knowing exactly what to do. As he climaxed for the very first time inside a woman, Max felt more than mere ecstasy jolt throughout his body. He felt something ancient, something primal attach itself to his soul. An ancient energy coursed through his veins and he knew that he was changed forever.

  He finally had a girlfriend.

  -4-

  Kerry Wetherspoon, Max Coop
er, and Hannah Wilkes had been missing for more than forty-eight hours when the search party formed up and headed into the woods. The town of Redlake had seen horror in these woods before. They did their best to cover up the stories, but the police chief had a bad feeling that something awful had happened again. The caravan park was supposed to put a fence up to keep people out of the woods, but it was one of those jobs that just never seemed to get done. So many years had passed since Sharon Oxley had died that it hardly seemed important anymore, but now that a bunch of kids had disappeared, the woods were the first place anyone thought of searching.

  Although none of them discussed the reasons why, they all headed right to the small clearing with the fallen log. That was where Sharon had been discovered ten years ago, her guts ripped out and missing. It was the police chief who was the first to find her after the lifeguard called it in.

  And it was the police chief who found two of the three missing teenagers today. The boy was missing.

  Kerry Wetherspoon and Hannah Wilkes lay side by side on the old log. Their bodies were drained of all blood and each had gaping holes in the centre of their stomachs, insides torn away and gone. The killer was long gone, just like ten years before. Perhaps he had taken the boy.

  Max Cooper was nowhere to be seen, despite being seen associating with both of the victims. Little did the police chief know that the teenage boy was lurking beneath the very ground he stood on now, making love to a young girl that was far older than any man alive. One day, more dead teenagers would fill those woods.

  END.

  About The Author

  Iain Rob Wright is one of the UK's most successful horror and suspense writers, with novels including the critically acclaimed, THE FINAL WINTER; the disturbing bestseller, ASBO; and the wicked screamfest, THE HOUSEMATES.

  His work is currently being adapted for graphic novels, audio books, and foreign audiences. He is an active member of the Horror Writer Association and a massive animal lover.

  Check out Iain's official website or add him on Facebook where he would love to meet you.

  www.iainrobwright.com