Witch: A Horror Novel (The Cursed Manuscripts) by Iain Wright (nonfiction book recommendations TXT) 📕

the building, her nausea continued. She spotted the dead squirrel lying on the ground and grimaced at the maggots and worms feasting on its corpse. Then she spotted something similar nearby – another dead animal – but larger. A flash of white in the corpse’s bloody grey fur told her it might have once been a badger. She’d never seen one before, but apparently they were dangerous. Like the squirrel, the badger’s rotting remains were riddled with maggots and worms. She could almost hear them squirming.

Ashley yelped as something in the nearby trees moved. She glanced to her left and saw the bushes shaking. Her immediate thought was that the sicko was coming to get her, but when she realised it was Jude, she put her hands on her knees and doubled over. “Fuck, it’s you! Did you find any—”

Ricky and Lily appeared, shoving Jude and marching him through the gap between the bushes.

Ashley groaned and instinctively took a step back.

What the hell are they doing here?

“What the fuck is going on, Jude? Are you okay?”

Jude didn’t look happy. He was covered in mud, and from the way Ricky was wrenching his arm behind his back, it was clear he hadn’t brought the two bullies back with him willingly. When Jude turned towards Ashley, he looked utterly defeated. He mouthed the word ‘sorry’.

She tried to smile to let him know it was okay, but she couldn’t manage it. Instead of help, he had brought the exact opposite. “Jude, did you call the police?”

“No one is calling the police,” said Lily. She broke away from Ricky and marched towards Ashley. “D’you get me, slag?”

Ashley clenched her fists. “This has nothing to do with you, Lily, so fuck off. We need to call the police. There’s a—”

“A woman, yeah. Judy told us all about it. So come on, where is she? Inside that house?” Lily looked over at the farmhouse and put her hands on her hips. “Can’t believe this place is out here in the middle of the woods. Wonder if there’s anything worth stealing.”

“Why are you even here, Lily?” Ashley snarled. “You usually hang around the shops, so why are you here messing with us?”

She shrugged. “Got caught robbing, innit. Lying low for a while. Think we might be hanging around the playground for a while, so sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.” She started towards the farmhouse.

Jude called out from where Ricky was still restraining him at the edge of the clearing. “Don’t go in there. The woman inside is afraid. She needs help.”

“Shut it!” Ricky shoved Jude in the back and sent him stumbling forward. He quickly regained his balance and rushed over to Ashley’s side. She put a hand on his arm and squeezed.

Lily walked towards the farmhouse, but Ashley hurried to block her. “Don’t!”

“Get the fuck out of my way.”

“You can’t go in there. The woman’s name is Rose, and she’s in a bad way. Jude was going to call the police to get some help.”

Jude looked at Ashley. “You know her name? Did she speak to you?”

“A bit.”

Lily looked back at Ricky. “You believe this shit?”

Ricky shrugged. He actually seemed a little unnerved by the situation. Whatever had happened out in the woods between him and Jude, he probably hadn’t actually believed that there was an old farmhouse out here. “Maybe we should bounce,” he said. “If the pigs are gunna end up getting involved, I don’t wanna be.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Don’t you want to know if these two freaks are telling the truth? If they are, there’s a naked fuck toy in that house, and I want to see her for myself. Come on, Ricky, let’s just go take a quick look.”

Ricky nodded. “I suppose we can take a quick look. If there is a woman in there, though, we should get the fuck out of here. Let Judy and flabby tits deal with the headache.”

“You’re not going in there,” said Ashley, refusing to move out of Lily’s way.

Lily expelled a gust of air from her nostrils like a snorting bull. She glanced back at Ricky again, a slight smirk on her pale, freckle-covered face. Then she threw a punch that struck Ashley right in the side of the head and sent her stumbling to the ground. She came down right on top of the dead badger and yelled in horror and disgust. She rolled away into the grass and frantically wiped her hands on her T-shirt.

Jude tried to help her, but Ricky reached out and grabbed the back of his T-shirt. The two of them did a dance, Jude trying to break free and Ricky fighting to hold on to him. Eventually, Jude escaped and made it over to Ashley.

Her head was spinning, and when she tried to get up, her legs folded and she fell back down. Lily had really given her a wallop. Jude got down in the grass beside her and put an arm around her. “Are you okay?”

“That… That bitch. I’m going to fucking kill her.”

Lily pulled out her knife and pressed the release. The blade slid out with an audible snick! “Still has your blood on it,” she purred. “Stay down or I’ll let it drink some more. Come on, Ricky, let’s have a mooch inside this house.”

Ricky sniggered, but there was a slight nervousness in his eyes. He kept glancing around at the bushes, and when he made eye contact with Ashley, he almost appeared sorry. It didn’t stop him catching up to Lily, though.

Ashley rubbed the side of her jaw and moaned while she and Jude sat in the grass. “I hope they break their necks in there,” she said.

Jude nodded. “I tried to get help, Ash, I swear. I was nearly home, but I ran straight into the two of them. I’m sorry.”

Ashley grabbed the back of his messy brown hair and pulled their foreheads together. “This isn’t your fault, Jude. The world is full of fucking arseholes, but you’re not