The Dark Side
Morgen Bailey
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Morgen Bailey
‘The Dark Side’ is a short story taken from a forthcoming second-person collection entitled ‘It’s All About You’.
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Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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The Dark Side
You struggle to breathe as you look down at the cot. You know he won’t be far away. It’s only a matter of time.
Your heart quickens as you hear gravel shifting. A large car - his Daimler. You’ve got it all planned but of course there’s no guarantee... What if...? It’s no good thinking what if? you tell yourself. You only have one chance. To escape. Be free. Alive again. You stand up straight and your hands tighten around the bundle you hold close to your chest. It’s the key to everything. This is what it’s come to, you know he’s here to kill you, take your child, his heir.
You hear the car door slam followed by heavy footsteps, slow and determined - keeping time with the blood pounding in your ears.
The footsteps stop at the front door. You wait to see what he’ll do next. Ringing the bell would be the last thing, the door itself too heavy for even him to break down.
Part of you wonders how he found you so quickly; you’d hoped for later rather than sooner. This is Jessie’s house and only she knows you’re here. Even your mum doesn’t. But the devil has ways of making people talk. Everyone has a weakness. You know that Evan is his, and only getting his son back would bring him here. You hold your breath and listen but the only sound is a clock, ticking away the seconds; a countdown to the inevitable.
The footsteps are on the move; getting distant, not towards the car but away from the house. You want to look out the window but you’re pinned to the spot, so you look at the cot.
Seconds later you hear a smash of glass and know the back door has been the entry of choice. He’ll search the rooms, probably call out your name. He knows you know he’s here so there’s no point in being quiet – besides the rear door window gave that game away. Not that it’s a game to either of you. He’s deadly serious, the stakes just as high.
The lounge door slams, makes you jump. You tell yourself to stay calm. Getting frightened won’t do you or Evan any good, though your heart tells you otherwise.
The footsteps are on the stairs now; painfully slow. He knows you can hear them and he likes to torture, only this time you’re not going to be the victim. The top stair floorboard creaks and he laughs. It’s not the laugh you remember from the early days but a low, sub-human sound. He claps his hands… slow, methodical, as if he’s applauding a concert pianist. You’re the one he’s listening to but the only sound you’re making isn’t audible to him. You swallow and your ears pop; a child-like sound drowning out your heartbeat – a brief distraction, like a fly buzzing around an empty room.
Your arms tighten around your bundle as the footsteps creep towards you. He won’t do anything to you as long as Evan’s in the room, and for once you know how it feels to be the one in control.
Your eyes leave the cot and you turn round to face him. His smile resembles a clown and you don’t find either funny. He’s wearing his favourite suit with a tie you gave him, and for a moment you want to reach out, touch the man who gave your son life, but then you remember the existence he gave you and the feeling of tenderness vanishes.
He looks at your chest and gasps when he sees your ‘treasure’. It’s not the son he expected and his eyes dart towards the empty cot. He looks back at you just as you lunge forward, blade glinting in the setting sun. It distracts him and he stumbles backwards but for once you’re quicker and your arm muscles tighten as the knife makes contact.
“Where...” is all he can say and you smile for the first time in too long.
“Your mother’s,” you reply as he drops to the floor.
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About the Author
Morgen Bailey is a writing-related blogger who hosts the weekly Bailey’s Writing Tips audio podcast, two in-person writing groups (based in Northamptonshire, England), is the author of numerous short stories, novels, articles, has dabbled with poetry but admits that she doesn’t “get it”, and is a regular Radio Litopia contributor.
She also belongs to two other local writing groups (one of which runs the annual HE Bates Short Story Competition) and when she’s not researching for her writing group, writes a bit more, is a British Red Cross volunteer and walks her dog (often while reading, writing or editing) and reads (though not as often as she’d like), oh and sometimes she writes.
Everything she’s involved is detailed on her blog http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com and she can usually be found chatting away about all things literary on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Discover other titles by Morgen Bailey at Smashwords.
Note from the Author
Thank you for downloading ‘The Dark Side’. I wrote the first draft on a weekend residential course in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside. For this exercise we were each given just a black & white photograph and half an hour. Being a lover of second-person viewpoint, which often captures my ‘dark’ side, this was the result.
I’d like to also thank my editor, Rachel, for her continued support and Denny for being my backup pair of eyes so willingly.
I hope you enjoyed this story… if “enjoyed” is the right word. It is one of a number of second-person stories that will, in the not too distant future, form an anthology entitled ‘It’s all about you’, complimenting a collection of monologues entitled ‘It’s all about me’, from which another eBook short story (‘Feeding the Father’) comes.
I welcome feedback and you can either find me on the links above or via email: morgen@morgenbailey.com.
