Hell train, p.16
Hell Train, page 16
“Our one sacrifice?” asked Grace, wrinkling her slightly too-long nose. “Will it be enough? I read that she needs, like, twelve or something. Greedy.”
Ashley sighed again and clutched the pendant around her neck. Her frustration boiled, and she saw the purple orchid on her bedroom’s windowsill begin to wilt and die. “We are witches. The Spouse favours witches, so she will hear us without the proper ritual. One sacrifice will suffice so long as it is substantial.”
“Okay,” said Grace. “So we make the circle, say the incantations, and then what?”
“We mix our blood with the blood of the loved.”
“You mean the kid we all boned?” said Emily, giggling. “He thought all his birthdays had come at once.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “It was me he wanted. You two just happened to be there.”
“He loves you,” said Grace, nodding and seeming a little jealous. No boy had ever loved her, Ashley was sure of it. Both girls were losers, which was why she had picked them. The power she offered was too tempting for them to resist. She would give them confidence and talent and beauty… Whatever any of them desired.
Ashley felt a lump in her throat. “Yes, he loves me. That’s why he will work as a sacrifice. He loves me and I… I love him. The lover and the loved. It’s the main part of the ritual we’re doing. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
The three of them chanted the words in unison, working from an old spell book Ashley had bought online. It was the real deal – she had known because the ancient witch inside of her, the woman whose power she now owned, whispered it to her. Every day she became more powerful, and her destiny grew larger. Incredible things lay ahead of her and would soon reveal themselves. Her purpose was almost upon her. The Spouse would help to hasten things.
Incantations over with, Ashley broke the circle. She could feel the protection spell in place around her, like static electricity. Nothing supernatural could hurt her now, not until she next ate of an animal. The Spouse would have no option but to listen and take what was offered.
And what Ashley offered was a lot. She had to fight the pain in her heart as she opened her wardrobe door. Inside, her oldest friend, Jude, cowered, naked and gagged. He looked at her in terror, which hurt her even worse. Of course, he was right to fear her. It had taken weeks to win his trust after what they had gone through in Devil’s Woods. Every moment between them had been like swallowing glass, because she knew she was eventually going to break his heart and take his life. Every moment they had shared together… it had all been a beautiful lie.
They had become lovers over the weeks following the events of Devil’s Ditch. She had needed to pretend the dark influence over her had gone, and that she was just the childhood friend he had always known. Eventually, she had talked him into an orgy with Grace and Emily, new friends of hers from school. He had been reluctant and gone along with it only to please her. What he hadn’t known was that he was actually partaking in a bacchanal, offering a part of his soul to the three witches via their exchanging of bodily fluids. Now, he was about to give his flesh to the Sacrificed Spouse. In exchange, Ashley would become even more powerful.
She was going to change the world.
She bent down and kissed Jude on the cheek. “I’m sorry about this, lover, but we all have a destiny, and this is yours.” She turned back to her fellow witches and gave her demands. “Get the dagger. It’s time to make the sacrifice.”
Jude whimpered.
Ashley’s heart wept.
But it wasn’t enough to stop her.
—
Thank you so much for reading HELL TRAIN. If you want to know more about Jude and Ashley who were featured in the final chapter–and see how they got to that point–then check out ‘Witch’, another of the Cursed Manuscripts. Here’s the link you need: Witch/amazon.com
Oh, and thank you so much for reading!
Iain Rob Wright
SUMMARY OF WITCH
Summer is here and school's out, but boredom quickly sets in for the penniless kids of the Redsow housing estate. If only they had something to do...
In an effort to escape a pack of local bullies, best friends, Ashley and Jude, decide to brave Devil's Ditch, a place deep in the woods that everyone says is haunted by something ancient and evil.
At first, everything seems fine, but then they discover an old farmhouse covered in weeds. Inside is a naked woman in chains. Her name is Rose, and there's something not quite right about her.
TURN THE PAGE TO READ CHAPTER 1
TEASER FOR ‘WITCH’
The crumpled Coke can struck the bottom of the aluminium slide and cartwheeled against the playground’s metal railing. Ashley had kicked it so many times now that her big toe was numb. If things were any more boring, she might kill herself.
Maybe I’m already dead and this is Hell.
Jude was sitting on the park’s yellow-painted bench, flicking a plastic coin into the air and catching it while watching her glumly. His mousy brown hair had grown long over the summer and was hanging in front of his face. “Can you stop doing that?” he asked.
“Stop doing what?”
“Kicking that can around. It’s giving me a headache.”
Ashley wound up for one last kick and blasted the can across the playground. It struck the overflowing bin next to the gate and bounced through a gap in the railing. It felt like scoring a goal. The afternoon sun bounced off the playground’s many shiny metal surfaces and caused her to shield her eyes as she took a seat next to Jude on the bench and looked at him. “What’s up with you today?”
“Nuffin’.”
Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Liar. You’ve been having a mardy all day, barely said a word. What’s wrong?”
He laced his fingers together on the scuffed knees of his blue jeans and twiddled his thumbs. “I’m just bored. We’ve been dossing around for five weeks straight, and it’s doing my head in. Least when my dad was around, we would go on holiday in the summer, or even just to Alton Towers.”
“You miss him? Is that why you’re down in the dumps?”
Jude shrugged. “Not really. Been too long now to give much of a shit. I’m bored, that’s all, but it makes me wonder what life would’ve been like if my dad were still around. Never thought I’d say it, but I miss school.”
Ashley got off the bench and moved in front of Jude with her hands on her hips. “I’ll never be that bored. This year is gunna suck. I’ve got Mrs Grainger for maths and science. I can’t stand that fat bitch.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I used to have chemistry with her. Her breath stinks like shit.”
“I can’t wait to finish school so we can finally do what we want to do. Two more years and I am out of here. Roll on sixteenth birthday.”
Jude spoke in an old person’s voice. “And what do you want to be when you’re all grown up, young lady?”
She threw out an arm, wiggled it, and let the movement flow through her entire body until it ended in a fancy kick. “I wanna dance, bitch.”
Jude nodded in appreciation. “I have to admit it, you’re getting really good. Do you dance in front of the mirror in your underwear? You should film it on your phone and send it to Britain’s Got Talent.”
Ashley did a little twirl and flicked another kick that missed Jude’s face by only two inches. “I’ll take your head off, you cheeky shit.” She collapsed back down on the bench. “Anyway, it’s you who’s gunna go up on Britain’s Got ‘No’ Talent with all that magic crap you like. The ‘Amazing Jude’, that’s what they’ll call you. You know girls aren’t into that shit, right? That plastic coin of yours ain’t getting any bitches wet.”
Jude shrugged. “Girls ain’t into me for a lot of reasons, so magic tricks won’t make things any worse.”
“God, you’re a proper Debbie Downer today, ain’t you? If you want to get laid, I’ll help you find a lady. There’s gotta be a homeless crack addict around here somewhere.”
He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Can we just get out of here, please? My ass is falling asleep.”
Ashley nodded. “Yeah, all right. Wanna go to the overpass?”
“Yeah, okay.” Jude stood up to join her and the two of them exited the playground through the swinging gate. They took the footpath and headed toward Redsow Woods, the small strip of nature reserve that separated the housing estate from the town’s golf course where Ashley’s dad used to take her as a child to hit balls. He was always too busy nowadays, but she still remembered how much she used to enjoy swinging a club. It was a good way to work through some anger.
I feel like whacking the shit out of some balls right now.
They kept to the footpath, heading alongside the woods on one side and passing around the playing fields on the other. Eventually, they made it to the overpass, where the footpath spanned a dual carriageway. A tall railing ran along both sides to keep people from throwing themselves off, but there was enough space beneath to dangle their legs over the edge. It was something they came to do sometimes to kill time and watch the world go by. It was one of their places.
Ashley shuffled onto the pavement and slid her legs under the metal barrier. She clutched the bars and pressed her face against the gap, peering at the rushing traffic below. It was a busy road, with cars driving back and forth along it constantly, even at night, even on a quiet Monday afternoon like this one.
Jude scrambled down next to her and threaded his own legs under the barrier. He looked at her and gave a thin-lipped smile. “Sorry, I’m in a mood today. Just got up on the wrong side. Forgive me?”
“Course, you dickhead. Want to play?”
Jude nodded. “First to ten, yeah?”
“Yep.”
The two of them took turns gobbing at the passing cars. If you timed it just right, you could hit the windscreens. There was nothing the drivers could do. They couldn’t stop on the carriageway, and even if they could, they would have to climb a steep hill to get up onto the footpath. Ashley and Jude would be long gone by then. Sometimes, the drivers blasted their horns in anger but that only made Ashley and Jude cackle. Getting a driver to beep was worth double points.
Ashley spat a mouthful of phlegm at a passing BMW. “Ooh,” she said. “Just missed the bastard.”
Jude chuckled, then gobbed a mouthful of spit at a passing motorcyclist. He got the guy right on his bright red helmet.
“Good shot!” Ashley said, whistling. She let a line of saliva elongate and then break, almost hitting a green and white Mini.
“You’re useless,” said Jude. “I remember when you used to be a challenge. Maybe I need to get a new best friend.”
“Good luck. I’m the only person who can stand you. Oh, and your mum thinks you’re okay. How is Helen today? Drunk by breakfast?”
Jude rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep from smiling. “Shut your face, you nasty cow. She’s not that bad, and you know it. Anyway, it’s not like she’s got any other hobbies.”
Ashley pulled at her grubby, shoulder-length brown hair. “Actually, I need to ask her if she can fit me in for a cut. My hair’s well minging.”
“She’s pretty busy at the moment. Everyone’s been getting ready for school.”
“Good thing I’m best friends with her son then, ain’t it?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Cheers.”
They sat for a while, watching the sun descend as the afternoon began its second half. The spitting contest turned out to be no contest at all. Jude got to ten before Ashley even got to five. Three cars had beeped their horns after direct windscreen hits.
Jude cheered up a little, although he started plucking at his rubber bracelet, which was something he always did when he was anxious. “You okay?” she asked, nodding at the yellow band around his wrist. He was halfway through plucking it for a fourth time.
He loosened the bracelet and placed his hands back around the bars. “Just thinking. You know me.”
Ashley smiled. She’d been friends with Jude since nursery, where they had bonded over a mutual love of Lego and finger painting. Realising their bond, their mums had started arranging play dates, and they had become inseparable from then on. The problem was that they made no other friends. By the time they had started primary school they had been joined at the hip, and no different when they moved on to secondary. Instead of birthday parties, they went to theme parks together, or pigged out at a Chinese buffet. They spent almost every afternoon after school hanging out at one another’s houses. They were like brother and sister, which was strange seeing as Ashley wanted to fuck most lads her age.
“It’s getting chilly.” Jude rubbed at his shoulders. “Think I might head home and get something to eat.”
Ashley nodded. “Yeah, me too.”
The two of them pulled their legs back from beneath the barrier and stood up. Evening was still an hour or two away but it was time to call it a day. Five weeks into the six-week summer holidays, the nights were drawing in, which made it more acceptable to go home and chill in front of the TV. At summer’s start, after so long at school, it had felt like a crime to go home before ten o’clock.
They were about to get going when Jude groaned.
Ashley turned to him. “What is it?”
Jude turned white as a sheet. He gave a small nod towards the other end of the overpass and Ashley saw what concerned him. She groaned too. “Oh, shit, that’s all we need. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
The two of them started powerwalking, staring straight ahead and not speaking – trying to hide in plain sight. Lily, Ricky, and the twins were a good thirty metres behind, but it wouldn’t take them long to catch up. That would be bad news. Ricky Dalca and Lily Barnes were always bad news.
Ricky and his crew were always dossing around somewhere on the estate but usually near the school or the shopping centre. Ashley and Jude kept closer to home and managed to avoid the local troublemakers most days. Not today, it seemed.
Jude glanced sideways at her, and she could see the anxiety churning inside him. At school, on the few days when Ricky Dalca attended, he always had it in for Jude. Sometimes, Jude faked an upset tummy just so he wouldn’t have to go in and face the torture. It pissed Ashley right off.
Right fucking off.
She hated bullies, and Ricky Dalca was the absolute fucking worst. His friends, too.
“Are they following us?” Jude asked, his eyes unblinking.
Ashley dared to peek back, and what she saw made her yelp. Before she had a chance to warn Jude, Ricky rushed forward and shoved him in the back. They hadn’t even made it off of the overpass.
We should’ve run. The bastards were never going to leave us alone. They never do.
Jude staggered and just avoided falling. He spun to face his attacker and summoned a rare display of anger. “What’s your goddamn problem, Ricky?”
Ricky was a good-looking lad, which gave Ashley mixed feelings, seeing as she hated his guts about as much as she wanted to snog his face off. Ricky’s parents were Romanian, who Ashley’s dad said were a bunch of criminals, but he had no accent and didn’t look any different to an English lad. He was, however, a criminal. If you needed weed at school, Ricky was the lad to see. If somebody was walking around with a black eye, Ricky Dalca was usually the cause.
Ricky glared at Jude. “You’re my problem, Judy. What ’ave I told you about being outside? I said I’d kick the shit out of you if you left your house, didn’t I!”
Jude sighed. He was trembling, but Ashley knew he was doing his best to hide it. “Sorry for needing to get some fresh air. Jesus!”
Ricky stepped up to Jude and glared right in his face. “You don’t deserve fresh air, you fucking weirdo. Your mum should make you live in the attic. Fuck, you can’t even look at me straight, you freak.”
Ricky’s friends laughed. The twins hooted in tandem. Lily cackled.
Jude took a step back. “I’m getting laser eye surgery next month, so my lazy eye can finally stop annoying you. Great news, seeing as you bring it up every time we meet. Your concern is heart-warming.”
Ashley chuckled internally. If Jude was getting laser eye surgery, he hadn’t told her about it.
Ricky scowled and lifted his shaved right eyebrow into a jagged arch. “You fucking cheeking me, mate?”
Jude shook his head and exhaled. “No, Ricky. I just don’t know why you have such a problem with me.”
Ricky appeared to think for a moment. Then he punched Jude in the stomach and laughed. “Must be yer face,” he said.
Ashley stepped in front of Jude to protect him. “Leave him the fuck alone, Ricky. Why you gotta be such a bastard?”
Ricky glared. “Why do you even hang around with this loser? Like, I would never fuck you in a million years, but you can still do better than him.”
“You reckon?” Her heart thudded against her ribs. Her fists clenched in anger. “Because Jude has a massive dick and knows how to use it. In fact, his dick’s even bigger than Lily’s.”
Lily stepped forward. The pale, freckle-covered menace was several inches taller than Ashley, and her wild, frizzy ginger hair cascaded down to her waist like a nest of exotic snakes. She snarled at Ashley. “You fucking calling me a man?”
“Think she’s calling you a tranny, Lil,” said one of the twins, chuckling.
Ashley went to say something, realising she should try and defuse the situation, but before she got the chance, Lily spat right in her face. Ashley reeled backwards, wiping her left eye and cursing in repulsion. “You… you mental bitch.”
Jude grabbed her and pulled her back before Lily could do anything else. They tried to walk away, which was probably a smart choice, seeing as they were outnumbered and a mile from home, but Ricky grabbed Jude and shoved him up against the railing. “Where do you think you’re going, Judy?”
He hit Jude in the stomach again.
Jude doubled over and gasped. “P-Please, just leave me… leave me alone.”
Ricky straightened Jude up against the railing and shoved him back so hard that he struck his skull on the bars. “What if I don’t? What if I throw you off this bridge and put an end to your sad little life?”
