Twisted Little Things and Other Stories by Amy Cross Read Free Book Online Page A

screamed, trying to grab the soldiers back and then punching me on the side of the face.
    “Lucy -”
    “Give them back!”
    This time she hit me even harder, as if she was finding extra fury and anger from deep down.
    Pushing her away, I stumbled to the far side of the yard and tossed the two bloodied soldiers onto the barbecue. With trembling hands I grabbed a can of lighter fluid and doused the figures, and then I lit a match. There was still a part of me that insisted the soldiers weren't to blame, but I was filled with a sudden, desperate need to get rid of them at all cost.
    “Daddy, no!” Lucy screamed, running toward me.
    Before she could get any closer, I dropped the match and watched as the two soldiers burst into flames.
    “Daddy, stop!”
    Lunging past me, Lucy thrust her hands into the flames. I quickly tried to pull them out, but the heat was too strong and I had to grab her by the waist and drag her back. The flames were rising high now, and I dragged Lucy further away until suddenly I realized she'd stopped fighting. Instead, she'd begun to sob. It was as if she'd finally accepted that the soldiers were gone.
    “Mommy!” she screamed, slipping out of my grip and running back toward Katie. “Mommy, come back!”
    Turning, I saw that Katie had fallen still now. A cold shiver ran through my chest as I ran and pulled Lucy away, and my daughter quickly buried her face against my chest.
    As people began coming out of nearby houses, all I could do was stare in shock at my wife's bloodied body. I knew there was no way she could still be alive, that half her brain must have been crushed by the fury that Lucy's had unleashed, so all I could do was hold my daughter tight as I slowly turned and stared with wide-eyed shock at the flames that continued to roar from the barbecue.
    Whatever had caused Lucy to explode with rage, it seemed to have passed now. I slowly dropped to my knees, holding her as she cried. The flames were finally dying down in the barbecue, and I could see that there was nothing left of the figures.
    “Why couldn't you have let me keep them?” Lucy sobbed, as I turned and saw several shocked neighbors approaching Katie's body. “I wanted them so much! Daddy, why couldn't I have had them? I wouldn't have hurt Mommy if she hadn't tried to take them away from me! They were talking to me! Why couldn't she hear them?”

Table 9

Prologue
     
    Twenty years ago
     
    “And will you be waiting for someone this evening, Miss Carradine?” the waitress asked, as she took a leather-bound menu from the counter. “I know you usually come with your boyfriend. Is Harry...”
    Her voice trailed off as she began to feel a little uncomfortable. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something seemed a little different this time.
    “It's just me,” Vivian replied calmly, before forcing a well-prepared smile. “What I mean is, I shall be dining alone tonight. Harry...”
    She paused, her left eye twitching slightly.
    “Harry can't make it on this occasion. He's otherwise...” The words caught in her throat. “I'm afraid he's otherwise occupied.”
    “Well, we have your usual table waiting for you,” the waitress told her, as she led Vivian across the restaurant, toward the windows at the far corner. “The same reservation every week. You look different tonight. Is that a new look?”
    Glancing down at her black dress, Vivian's face flickered slightly, as if she was struggling to contain herself. She'd worn all black for the first time in her life – black heels, black stockings, a black dress that ran to just below the knee, and even a black hat with a black veil – and she knew that she probably seemed a little striking. At the same time, she felt absolutely certain that black was the only appropriate color for the evening, even if she felt the other diners were watching her. Still, she had chosen the clothes very deliberately.
    “Yes,” she managed to say finally, as she reached the table and the