Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

"This is the house w her e the par ty happens."
Sam smiled to himself. He couldn?t r emember having a Chr istmas par ty since
Chloe had been bor n. She must have over hear d other kids talking.
Chloe scr aw led other shapes and pointed w ith her cr ayon.
"And this her e is you."
He took the paper fr om her hand and star ed at it. For a moment, Sam str uggled to
say anything, the br eath fir mly lodged in his thr oat.
"Chloe, w ho did this? Who told you to dr aw this?" He could hear the panic in his
ow n voice.
The little gir l backed away but he gr abbed her r oughly by the w r ist and pulled her
towar ds him, a mixtur e of fur y and fear. Chloe tr ied to squir m out of his gr ip,
fr ightened by the look in her daddy?s eyes.
"Daddy let go! Stop shouting!"
Sam felt the pain in his chest again. He swayed on his feet, head spinning. In the
distance, he hear d the chime of chur ch bells and felt the bur n of w hiskey on his
tongue as the memor y he had bur ied for almost a decade cr ept up on him w ith
star tling clar ity.
"? And as thousands of revellers prepare to celebrate, here at the Millennium
Dome, spare a thought for the thousands of businesses who are busy preparing for
the computer meltdown the press are calling ?the millennium bug? "
Sam switched off the radio.
"Sam! I was listening to that."
But Sam was the one driving and that meant he had the final say on what they
listened to. "Don?t tell me you believe that shit too. As if the world?s going to collapse
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