Holly Hunted

Holly’s trip to San Francisco had been a disaster. It had rained the entire time she was there and the Gallow family that she had stayed with were some of the rudest, dirtiest people she had ever met. Boy, was she glad she never had to use their poor excuse of a shower ever again.

Finally, the taxi pulled up in front of her parents’ house. They wouldn’t be back until evening but Holly knew where the keys were kept and was ready for a nap more than anything else; 20 hours of travelling was beginning to take its toll.

Inside was deadly quiet. She hung up her coat in the cupboard under the stairs and went through to the kitchen. A note on the microwave informed Holly to help herself to any food and despite having not eaten properly for over a week now, she decided to head straight to bed.

Holly was back in the Gallows’ kitchen, Mrs Gallow was leering at her with yellowed teeth, sitting on a crate that contained a piglet, squealing and squealing and squealing. Her rough, calloused hands were holding up a needle and thread. “Come here, Holly,” the mad woman croaked. “Let me fix you.”

Waking with a start, it took Holly the best part of a quarter of an hour to remind herself that the Gallows were a long way away. Feeling hunger pangs in her stomach again, she was reminded of the food in the kitchen. On her way downstairs, however, she thought she heard a rustling sound. Stopping dead in her tracks, she listened intently, trying to determine the sound’s location.

Rustle, rustle, rustle-rustle.

Perhaps it was her parents, back from their evening of entertainment?

Where were her parents? Why hadn’t they called yet? Surely they’d be back by now?

Rustle, rustle….

The sound was coming from the living room, there was no doubt about it. Excited at the prospect of a good catch up with her folks, Holly dashed forward and swung the door open.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her parents were there alright, lying dead in a pool of blood. The room was full of dogs, big dogs, the same breed that the Gallows kept and they were all pushing and shoving each other, tearing at her parent’s flesh. The pack of dogs were so busy fighting over the carcases that they hadn’t noticed Holly come in. Slowly, Holly edged out of the room. She could feel a scream building inside her chest but was too scared to let it out.

“Hello, Holly!” said Mr Gallow, and the scream ruptured from her lungs. It was a long, powerful scream but the ugly man didn’t even flinch. Before she could turn to run, he had a firm grip of her wrist. “I’ve missed you!” he whispered, flooding her senses with his bad breath.

Mrs Gallow was now there, holding Holly’s jacket.

“Come on now,” she said, grinning malevolently. “Time to go home.”

word count: 496