Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

shook itself off, and tw o keen dots of eyes r ose up, pale as str eam-bleached stones,
unblinking, to find me.
I sat up to confr ont it, my hear t r abbit-fast in my thr oat. Steve?s hand was at my hip.
?You ok?? His mouth was muffled w ith sleep.
It had slipped back into the shadow br ackens. I let him comfor t me onto my side and I
waited, as his br eathing slow ed again. The r oom was empty but I knew it w ould be back,
on the cold br eeze, at the glass of the w indow. The soft tap of its unhur r ied but inevitable
pace.
Red on w hite on r ed on w hite in the black.
21st November
Mandy was pissing me off but I was good at keeping my cool in the office, mostly because
nothing her e r eally matter ed. I pushed the sheet of paper back acr oss the desk and
sw ivelled away fr om her.
?Come on, Alex. It?s just a meal, you?r e not selling your soul.?
?I?ve got plans.?
?You didn?t even look at the date! They?r e paying, you know ? Meal and tw o dr inks and
that includes cocktails. It was r eally fun last year , the guys fr om IT came along and Sally at
fr ont desk.?
I inhaled thr ough my nose and gave her a sad smile.
?It?s not r eally my thing. Chr istmas. It?s a har d time of year for me.?
?Oh.?
The bounce flushed out of her cheeks. I could see her cr umple under the aw kwar dness of
being per ched on my desk, pencil skir t gr ipped tight acr oss her thighs.
?I?m sor r y love, I didn?t mean to? ?
I could have let her w r iggle off the hook but I didn?t have the ener gy for unnecessar y
kindness.
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