Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

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The day dr agged on, the ear ly excitement of finding the str ange book in the back
r oom now r eplaced w ith a sense of ur gency. Lily was jumpy, par anoid that Mister
Gr egor y knew w hat she was planning. The old man had come dow n fr om his lunch
br eak and was milling about the bookstor e w ith no r eal sense of pur pose.
"Why don?t you go and get some fr esh air ??" Lily suggested w ith an air of
innocence.
Mister Gr egor y waved the idea away. "Thank you, my dear , but w inter doesn?t do
me a lot of good. Makes one?s 'bones ache'."
Lily smiled at the old man, cur sing him in her head.
Another half an hour or so passed. Lily, mor e r estless than ever , tr ied to keep
her self busy or ganising ar ound the old man?s potter ing. She was cer tain he must?ve
seen her looking thr ough the black door by now , she could har dly keep her eyes off
the book. She was star ting to sw eat a little too, per haps fr om ner ves. When Mister
Gr egor y told her he was heading back to the office to make them both a cup of tea,
she almost utter ed a hallelujah.
"Oh - oh okay, Mister Gr egor y, thank you. Would it be okay if you steeped mine for a
little longer ? I like my tea str ong."
Mister Gr egor y peer ed at Lily.
"Still w ith tw o sugar s?"
Lily gulped.
"Well- I mean, yes, yes tw o sugar s. But I like it str ong and sw eet, you see. Like me."
Lily cr inged at the joke as she handed Mister Gr egor y the dinosaur mug. But it
seemed to satiate the old man, w ho nodded and tr undled back up the stair s and
thr ough the opaque glass door.
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