Fan Fears: A collection of fear based stories by Michael Bray Read Free Book Online Page A

fourth and last one.
    Whumph.
    Still there, still ticking. Still fighting.
    The power went out.
    Ashba had already prepared for that, though, and the candles he had lit meant that it wasn't too much of a hindrance. He turned away from the now dead television screen and looked at her. “Won't be long now. They’ve cut the power.”
    Whumph.
    She drew in precious air and glared at the twisted, deranged man perched on the edge of the sofa. He had checked that the gun was loaded again, and flicked off the safety.
    He caught her staring and locked eyes with her. “You don’t know how tempting it is to put an end to you now and avoid the pain of such a slow demise, but you know I can't do that. I have morals, principals.
      Shouting from outside, then an impact on the door as they started to force their way in. It was all real now, all actually happening. There was something surreal about it, something utterly unbelievable which almost detached her from the situation.
    Whumph.
    A beat, a whisper of spent breath which Colleen Cassidy thought might be her last. She was only forty-six, too young for this, too young to be staring down the grinning, twisted face of death as he waited for her.
    Another beat, and with it another breath.
    A reprieve, then, although who knows how long. She flicked her eyes towards Ashba, although he didn't much resemble a doctor anymore. He looked ghastly in the candlelight, a ghoul, a monster dressed in human flesh. His eyes were wild and flicking between her and the door. His hair was sticking up in the back and he had blood smeared on his face from where she’d punched him. The sounds at the door were becoming more and more urgent as the police tried to force their way in. Ashba grinned a yellow cheese wedge smile which scared her because there was no fear in it.
    “There’s nothing they can do,” Ashba said, looking at the gun in his hand. “There’s nothing anyone can do. Your time is almost up.” He was psyching himself up, preparing to do what needed to be done.
    Colleen would have answered, but she couldn’t move or breathe.
    Whumph.
    There it was. The pacemaker did its job, and for now, she took another precious breath.  “Why me?” she asked as she sat there waiting to die.
    Ashba looked at her with something close to sympathy, then shrugged his shoulders.
    “Please, Doctor Ashba....”
    Whumph.
    Another breath, the spaces between them growing more distant. “Please....” Colleen gasped.
    “No. This is how it has to be. You brought this all on yourself. None of this is my fault.”
    Colleen closed her eyes and waited to see if another breath would come. She thought back to when it began, surprised that it had only been a week. It felt like a lifetime ago, and now the hope for a future that she had been given had been snatched away by the very man who had given it to her.
    Splintering wood, more shouting. Torches, harsh white lights coming through into the living room. She looked at Ashba, who was breathing quickly, puffing his cheeks and psyching himself up to end his own life. She could finally see the real him, the one behind the anger and the bravado.
    He was scared. She watched as he put the gun to his head, then changed his mind and put it under his chin instead, then settled for in the mouth, clamping his teeth around it. He was paying her no attention now. He had his wallet on his knee open to the photograph of his family.
    He was going to get away with it.
    The thought became the only one that mattered. It was the only thing she could think about, even more than the death which was coming to her.
    Whumph.
    One more breath, one more chance to take action.
    With the last of her energy, she lurched for Ashba, grabbing his gun arm and pulling it away from his mouth. At the same time, the armed officers burst into the room. Gunfire exploded from Ashba’s weapon, so loud next to her head. She felt warm blood land on her, then was on the floor. She couldn't see Ashba or the