Chapter Nine

Matt sang along with the track on the radio as he finished shaving. He double-checked his face and, happy with what he saw, tidied up the bathroom. He turned off the radio, but carried on singing. He glanced towards the mirror, “What?”

James was staring at him thoughtfully, “You know, you have a really good singing voice… Why are you here? You could be in a band! Or on stage in London! Edinburgh doesn’t offer you anything… You should leave.”

“Shut up!” Matt exclaimed. “It’s not going to work. I’m not leaving.”

“Then you must be freakin’ insane!” James snapped. “You know full well what goes on in this house, what went on. Any normal person would’ve run a mile by now! What the hell’s wrong with you?!” He was getting more and more frustrated, Matt could tell.

“NO!! KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!”

James looked insulted as Matt stared at him, “It wasn’t me, you moron!” He let out a long groan, “Jessica relives her past sometimes. Nothing we can do about it. You just have to let it flow…”

“NO!! HELP!! DAD!!”

Matt flinched, “I can’t hear this. I have to go.”

“So you’d run away from this, but not from the whole house?”

“Shut up!”

*****

Matt didn’t stay out long, but he was relieved to get home to a silent house. He shut the door behind him and wandered over to the window. His view of Edinburgh was restricted, though all he seemed to see looked old, and dated. It all seemed to have some sort of history about it. “Just like this house…” he muttered darkly. “Fuck it.” For extra emphasis, he decided to give the wall the finger.

“Run…” In typical horror movie fashion, wind whipped past his ear. He spun round. That hadn’t been a voice he recognised. He felt cold. He moved over to the thermostat and looked at the reading. It wasn’t any lower than usual…

“He’s coming…” Matt snapped round again.

“Get out of here…” another voice. A scream echoed in the house.